me.

For I would appeal to all here, whether he did not go just as far in that direction as I did, and also, whether there was not at least as great a disproportion between his promises and performances as between my promises and performances. Take, for instance, his attempt at turning the letter of Lord Warriston against us on this occasion. He read a letter from that great man which appears in the late edition of Baillie, and his object in doing so was to discourage us from seeking the abolition of patronage. Now, with reference to this letter I would just remark, 1st, That it was written in a very great hurry, Warriston himself telling us that he had not even time to read it over before sending it away; 2d, That it was written when he was labouring under disease, and that is not the best time for founding on a man's incidental expressions; 3d, the principal object of the letter was not to discuss the abstract question of patronage, but to discuss the question, much agitated in those days, whether, after signing the covenant, it would be unlawful for them to have anything whatever to do with presentations from patrons. Some thought it would, Warriston thought it would not, and we think with him. But this is a very different thing from that on which the Procurator founded his argument in favour of patronage. The fact is, that so far from sanctioning his views, Warriston sanctioned ours, for he held that though patronage might be submitted to, we ought to use all our endeavours to get it abolished. And if it be necessary to prove this, the proof may be found in the conclusion of this very letter, which has this day been quoted for an opposite purpose. Warriston actually would appear to have foreseen the use which some men, and, among others, the Procurator, would make of some things in this letter, and, therefore, he concludes it thus:

"Brother, I am unwell in my body. I am wearied dictating, and therefore will I end with this memento: that ye know what consequences useth to be drawn from any of my papers or letters; and, therefore, that ye will use it as I ordered it, not to the maintaining of patronage, wherefrom I wish, and shall labour by all lawful means, to recover the liberty of this kirk."

And this is the letter which the Procurator brought forward for the purpose of persuading us to approve of patronage! I would now, in a single sentence, advert to what was said by Dr Bryce. That reverend Doctor told us a great deal about the opinion of Beza on this subject, that Beza was not favourable to popular election. Now in answer I have just again to assert what I have already proved, that Beza was favourable to popular election. This is proved by many clear and unequivocal passages in his writings. I shall only read two. They are as follows:

"Quoniam nusquam inveni in Christiana ulla ecclesia jam ædificata, ullum esse vel ad ministerium verbi, vel ad diaconian, vel ad presbyterii gradum alia ratione quam publica et libera electione promotum, sicut mox dicemus, nisi quum Deo libuit extra ordinem agere ;" and again, in the next section De Electoribus Ecclesiasticis, he repeats the same sentiment," Iterum repeto quod antea dixi, nunquam receptum fuisse in Christianis ecclesiis jam constitutis, ut quis admitteretur ad functionem ecclesiasticum, nisi libera et legitime electus ab ecclesia cujus intererat." And he refers in the margin, in proof of this doctrine, to Acts xiv. v. 23; which in his Latin version of the New Testament he translates-" quumque ipsis per suffragia creassent presbyteros."

Here the right of the people to elect their ministers is most unquestionably laid down, and the only way to explain the apparent contradiction between these passages, and those quoted by Dr Bryce is just this, the extracts of Dr Bryce are garbled and mutilated extracts, which distort and misrepresent Beza's real meaning. I do not accuse Dr Bryce of garbling and misrepresentation. Far from it, for I do believe that he knew no more about the matter than he found in Lord Medwyn's speech on the Auchterarder case,-a source to which, as is well known, our opponents in the present controversy have been largely indebted for their authorities. Beza was speaking, in the letter from which the extracts were made, not against the right of the people to choose their own pastors, but against the independent principles advocated by Morellius, that the people ought to exercise a control over the the whole affairs of the church. This must be quite clear and obvious to any one who has read the letter; and I defy any one who has read it, to contradict me în saying so. And yet Dr Bryce gathers together the old garbled extracts which he found

in Lord Medwyn's speech, and comes and gravely tells this Assembly that Beza was an enemy to popular election ! Mr Cunningham concluded by saying, that, of course, if patronage were abolished, the system succeeding it would be substantially one of popular election.

The vote was then taken, and votes marked, when Mr Cunningham's motion was carried by a majority of 216 to 147.

At length, by the good hand of God upon us, the anti-patronage cause is triumphant; and the General Assembly, after a century of criminal neglect of duty, has revived its protest against the grand master evil that lies at the root of all our troubles and distractions together. Entering as we do of course most cordially, into the gratitude and joy with which this event will fill the hearts of the Christian people of Scotland, we cannot shut our eyes to the fact, that there is much cause connected with it, of humiliation, and shame, and sorrow before the Lord. How slow has the church been to learn her duty in this matter! What a period of long and dreary neglect remains to be mourned over! What untold evils have grown up under the church's eye, without a blow being aimed at the root of them all! How has she rather at last been borne on to this issue by the tide of providence, than advanced towards it, following the dictates of God's word! Some there are, indeed, who congratulate themselves on this, observing with complacency, how we have been shut up by events to every step of our procedure, and to this among the rest. But surely, whatever cause of thankfulness to God this may afford, it is a shame to a Christian church, having the Word for a lamp unto her feet, and a light unto her path,' to discern her duty for the first time in the light of providence; to require to be dragged along, step by step, by providential interpositions, in place of intelligently and cheerfully following the dictates of the law and the testimony? If patronage be, as the Assembly has now declared, a grievance, why was not this discovery made sooner? Had the Scriptures been as carefully studied as they ought to have been; had the constitution of the church of Christ been better understood, as a free and spiritual society, necessarily excluding all foreign and secular interference with the nomination of her ministers-should we have needed all this shutting up to our duty, for which we admit, however, that we have just the more cause to be grateful, that our requiring it was both foolish and sinful? We have made these remarks, simply to guard our own minds, and those of our readers, against undue elation, and from a deep conviction that the secret of retaining those things which we have wrought, and receiving a full reward,' lies very much in humility and self-abasement on the part of the church. At the same time, it would be difficult to over-estimate the importance of the anti-patronage vote in the Assembly, and as impossible to be too thankful to God for it. Even the

most sanguine had not ventured to anticipate the overwhelming majority that appeared on the morning of the 24th of May. Although the tone of the Assembly from its first opening, had raised the hopes of the anti-patronage members,-still these were greatly exceeded by the result. We should suppose that now the most suspicious must be convinced at once of the honesty of the church in her past contendings; that she has been seeking, not power for the clergy, but liberty for the Christian people; and of her determination also, to stand by her principles and her people at all hazards. To these inferences from the vote, apart from its more intrinsic merits, we attach high importance. Let the hostile press rage as they may ;-all the more malignant, the more clearly they see us strengthening our position in the affections of the people. The people themselves will have no difficulty in drawing the conclusions to which we have pointed; and they will rally round the church with greater zeal and energy than ever. Above all, we have now at last got upon the broad Scriptural ground, where we may confidently look for the blessing of the great Head of the church. The cause of patronage in Scotland is fast upon the wane. Even the more respectable of the moderate party are now obliged to give up as untenable, the right of nomination in the patron, apart from a spiritual qualification. Our readers will not fail to observe, that Mr Robertson of Ellon, in his attempted reply to Mr Cunningham's masterly speech, repeated his admission of last year, that patronage ought only to be in the hands of members of the Christian church, and declared his readiness to join in any attempt to have the law altered to that effect. Now that the majority of the church have taken the anti-patronage ground, we believe that their eyes will be more and more opened to the force of the arguments against the whole system, from Scripture and from reason. And altogether, (to employ an expression of the Earl of Dalhousie, which has created no small amusement since his Lordship used it in retiring from the Assembly in 1839) we are much deceived if the knell of patronage was not rung,' when, at the close of the debate, the General Assembly, to the exceeding great delight of the vast audience assembled to witness the proceedings, resolved, by a majority of 216 to 147, that patronage was a grievance, and that it ought to be abolished.

TUESDAY, May 24th.

The Assembly was constituted as usual by a prayer from the Moderator. Read Psalm lxviii. Sung Psalm Ixvii. 2d version, verses 1, 2, 3, and 4.

On the minutes having been read,

Mr CUNNINGHAM said, that as the resolution passed last night, was one which all, whether they approved of it or not, would reckon as constituting an era in the history of the Church of Scotland, he proposed that it should be printed among the acts of the house. Agreed to.

Dr Cook gave in reasons of dissent from the resolution passed last night, and Mr Cunningham proposed and named a committee to answer them. We shall publish the reasons of dissent when the answers are given in.

Mr CRICHTON thought that they ought to follow up their decisions by appointing an anti-patronage committee, to use all the means in their power for securing the total abolition of the atrocious system.

Mr CUNNINGHAM said,-Of course, it was for the bouse to consider what steps it should take to follow up its resolution; but what these should be, required some deliberation.

Mr BRIDGES agreed with Mr Cunningham, that the subject did require some deliberation, and suggested that the committee which had been appointed to draw up petitions to the Queen and both Houses of Parliament, should also take this subject into their consideration.

This suggestion, we understood, was agreed to.

FOREIGN MISSIONS.

Dr BRUNTON, Convener of the committee on Foreign Missions, then gave in his report. We give the following extracts :—

The most striking event by which that year has been characterized, has occurred at

66 MADRAS.

"In no other part of India was your enterprise so warmly welcomed as at Madras. The native population there not only confided their children gladly and gratefully to your training; but paid for the education, and for the Bibles on which the whole of that education was based. So long as there were no avowed cases of conversion, all was smooth and cordial. But in the month of June last, three of the pupils became candidates for the ordinance of baptism; which, after searching examination and af. fectionate and prayerful communings, was duly administered to them. This event gave rise to the most violent outbreaking on the part of the native population. Almost the whole of the pupils were at once withdrawn from the institution, and the bitterest charges were made against your missionaries, of unfair and unwarrantable tampering with the youthful mind.

During this sore trial-deprived for a time of the means of usefulness in which they had been accustomed to rejoice-forcibly torn from the objects of their tenderest and warmest affection-covered with obloquy, and threatened with violence by those to whose gratitude they knew themselves to be entitled-your missionaries were strengthened to behave with a firmness and a discretion, with a resignation and a loving-kindness, which bespoke the Christian and apostolic spirit firmly planted in them. "Through the blessing of Him who sustained them, your missionaries are now beginning to receive their reward. From the obloquy which had been heaped upon them they were defended, at the last public examination of their pupils, by the high authority of Sir E. Gambier, chief justice of the supreme court, who filled the chair on that occasion, and who bore his unqualified testimony to the good faith and fairness with which they have uniformly acted. Peace is, for the present, restored, and confidence is returning. The pupils of your institution are nearly as numerous as before the tumult, though, alas, they are not the same individuals on whom so much affectionate labour had been spent, and of whom so many cheering hopes had been formed.

"The three converts have entered on the necessary course of study for the Christian ministry.

66 BOMBAY.

"The feature in the intelligence from Bombay, on which the Committee dwell with especial thankfulness and joy, is the renovated health of Dr Wilson. They mentioned in their report last year, that he was about to accompany to Katiawar the two missionaries sent out by the presbyterian church in Ireland. The result of the journey was very disastrous. Mr Kerr, one of the Irish missionaries, was seized with fever, and died. Dr Wilson caught the infection; and, by the first attack, and still

No words

more by a severe relapse, was brought very near to the gates of the grave. can tell the extent of injury which the loss of such a man, at such a crisis, must have done to our enterprise. But it pleased the Lord to have mercy on us, and to spare him. He is now so completely restored as to have resumed his duties at Bombay with all his characteristic energy. The committee are happy to have an opportunity of recording their grateful sense of the ability, zeal, and success with which, during the absence both of Dr Wilson and Mr Nisbet, Mr Murray Mitchell bas conducted the multifarious labours to which he has been called.

"The mission at Poonah continues, by the blessing of God, to prosper, through the indefatigable exertions of Messrs Mitchell and Aitken.

"CALCUTTA.

"Your noble institution at Calcutta maintains and increases its usefulness. The number of pupils upon the roll exceeds 900.

"The most important fact in its history of the year, is the setting apart two of the native converts, Mahendra and Khoilas, to the office of catechist, the first step in the probation through which native candidates for the Christian ministry have to pass. Mahendra has been all along regarded by the Congregational Association in Glasgow as their future missionary. His companion, Khoilas, has been adopted by the congregation of St Stephen's, Edinburgh. Gopi Nath Nundi, a former convert, who was the first object of their choice, has been made so useful to the United States' presbyterian mission at Futteghur, that he felt it his duty, with the concurrence of Dr Duff, bis spiritual father, to attach himself to that mission altogether.

"Three young Brahmins, who have lately been received by baptism into the church at Calcutta, are now assiduously employed in those pursuits, which may, through the blessing of God, qualify them for the Christian ministry.

"As these precious symptoms of the ripening of native agency may probably induce the Assembly to consider whether it be not needful to send further instructions to the presbyteries in India, concerning the ordination of native teachers, your committee beg leave to suggest that it may be made matter of consideration at the same time, whether these presbyteries may not be authorised occasionally to confer ordination on a duly qualified European, who may not have had it in his power to go through the full course of academical preparation. It is for the Assembly to decide what powers they may, in such cases, intrust to the presbyteries in India.

"Your committee most gladly and thankfully report, that the cause of female education is advancing far beyond their hope. The efforts now making in this glorious enterprise-which is more than half of the missionary work-would, they are convinced, have been premature and abortive, if they had been attempted at an earlier period. Indeed, that such efforts have encouragement at all, they regard as an unequivocal symptom of the progress of an energy which is silently shaking the strongholds of idolatry,-urging on a crisis in the whole religious aspects and feelings of India. The Scottish Ladies' Association,' by whom your committee are zealously assisted in this great branch of missionary work,-in no respect deterred by its difficulties and dangers, strong in the Lord and in the power of His might,'-have held on their way unshrinkingly, and are already beginning to reap the harvest_of what they have sown in faith and hope. To the agents whom they have sent to In. dia, female pupils are intrusted with a freedom and a frankness which no one, how. ever sanguine, could have ventured to anticipate. No restraint whatever is laid on the Christianizing character of the instruction which these children receive. God grant that no restraint may be felt on its convincing and converting power! "Your committee have to renew their cordial acknowledgment of the co-operation with which the Presbytery of London encourage and powerfully assist your enterprise. Their annual meeting was held on 29th April. The Lord Mayor, who has been from the first a cordial and influential patron of your mission, gave the use of the Egyptian Hall for the purpose, and presided upon the occasion. The meeting was a numerous and effective one. Our brethren in London anticipate that this year's contribution to your fund will be even greater than the last.

"The buildings erected for your institution at Calcutta have amply realised the hope with which they were undertaken. The number of pupils has been more than