again at eleven, adjournment at five, meeting at seven, and frequently sitting until eleven o'clock at night. A very good rule is observed at their morning and afternoon meetings, in adjourning punctually at the appointed hour; the business in hand being either postponed to a future day or taken up when the House resumes. We were particularly struck at the interest the public appeared to take in the proceedings of the Assembly, as evinced by a large audience, especially in the evenings, when the church was quite crowded. But a very considerable portion of the business is transacted when the public are excluded, and when the Assembly sits, as they term it, in interloquitur. It must have been a subject of great congratulation that, throughout the proceedings so little occurred to mar that harmony which should exist amongst Christian brethren. It is true that the arrangements in regard to the Magee College are yet far from being completed; but, from the good feeling exhibited at the termination of the discussion bearing upon it, there is strong reason to hope that this bone of contention will speedily be satisfactorily disposed of. Beith, of Stirling, together with George The deputation from our own Church consisted of the Rev. George J. C. Duncan, of Greenwich, the Rev. Samuel Cathcart, of Harbottle, and Alexander Gillespie, Esq., ruling elder, who severally addressed the Assembly. They speak in high terms of the cordiality with which they were received, of the desire evinced to meet their convenience; and fully appreciate the kindness of their brethren in eventually fixing so favourable a time for their reception. We give a part of the Moderator's address to our deputation: "Mr. Duncan, and Gentlemen of the Deputation, we have heard with intense dresses with which you have favoured us, interest the instructive and eloquent adand it now becomes my pleasing duty, in accordance with the Resolution which has just been unanimously passed, and which is declaratory of the sentiments of the Presbyterians of Ireland, to convey to you, the Deputation from the English Presbyterian Church, the expression of our continued feelings of cordial esteem and affectionate regard. We receive you amongst us as brethren, and we welcome you as friends. We rejoice in your presence, not alone in consequence of the brotherly affection which we cherish towards you personally, but, also, in consequence of the love which we entertain to that Church which you represent. The importance of the position which your Church occupies, and the consequences of the Missions with which she has been It strikes us, however, on a review of the proceedings of this and preceding Assemblies, that our brethren in Ireland would do well, as soon as may be, to adopt the representative system. Some of our readers may not be aware that at present every minister of their Church is invested, can scarcely be over-estimated ; a member of Assembly, and that there is and we feel assured, from the zeal and also an elder from every Kirk Session: ability with which you have heretofore susthis, for a small body such as our Presby-tained the cause of Presbyterianism in a terian Church in England, is no doubt the best system; but it seems more than questionable if it is suited for a Church now so numerous as that of the Presbyterians in Ireland. The Rev. JOHN BLECKLEY, of Monaghan, the retiring Moderator, preached at the opening of the Assembly an able and most impressive discourse, from Psalm cxxxiii. 1,-" Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" The Rev. Dr. MOLYNEUX, of Larne, in the Presbytery of Carrickfergus, was unanimously elected Moderator. The deputation from the Free Church of Scotland consisted of the Rev. Principal Cunningham, the Rev. Drs. Candlish and Begg, of Edinburgh, and Rev. Dr. VOL. V. land where its pure and Scriptural doctrines, and its Apostolic polity, have, of late years, previously to the organization of your Synod, been so little known, and from the marked success which has attended all your efforts, that a period is fast approaching when English Presbyterianism shall assume a position influential and commanding as that by which it was once so highly lemn prayer is, that none of the disastrous and so eminently distinguished. Our socontingencies which, in a bygone age, shatoverthrow the noble ecclesiastical structure tered that cause, shall ever again occur, to which, with all the resolute activity and erecting. (Applause.) England, at the energy of youth, you are enthusiastically present moment, exercises a potent swayboth political and moral-over the destinies of the world. Wherever her name is U volence, and demands and receives our most sincere admiration. Wherever a missionary spirit is manifested by any Church, we may rest assured that the principle of spiritual life is active there, and hence the conclusion to which we arrive is, that in your Church, there is that expansive vitality, which, under the blessing of God, will cause it to increase and prosper, until neither the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, nor the Free Church of Scotland, shall be able to boast of a numerical superiority." The next Meeting of the Assembly was appointed to be held at Belfast, on the 1st Tuesday of July, 1854. GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE FREE CHURCH known, wherever the victorious march of civilisation has driven back the darkness and degradation of barbarism, and wherever that meteor flag which has braved a thousand years the battle and the breeze has been unfurled, her influence is felt; and as her own character is elevated by the power of Christian truth, so must that influence become more energetic in sustaining the cause of pure Scriptural Christianity, where superstition and the iron heel of unholy despotism may now be trampling its hallowed principles in the dust. (Loud cheers.) Presbyterianism, from the character of its Scriptural principles and institutions, is necessarily favourable to constitutional liberty and Christian freedom; and the more extensive its spread in that highlyfavoured land where Providence has assigned your field of labour, the more must these powerful elements of the elevation of our race act upon the present movements and future destinies of surrounding nations. Interesting, then, is your mission, and important must be its results-a mission which is not merely intended for those Presbyterians who may have crossed the border from Scotland, or the Channel from Ireland, but for the great industrial and manufacturing masses of the English people, and, through them, upon the people of other lands and the inhabitants of other climes. Your Theological Institution, the training of a native ministry, not only attests the zeal with which you are laying the foundation of the future greatness of your Church, but proves your wise discrimination in no longer depending upon Scotland or Ireland for the men necessary to supply your various fields of Christian labour, and to secure the spread and establish the propriety of England's Scriptural Presbyterianism. The generous liberality of your people in erecting and sustaining your churches, and their hearty support of your The members of the deputation appointed missionary schemes, both at home and by our own Synod who attended were, the abroad, bear the most indisputable evidence Moderator, the Rev. Wm. Trail, Rev. George of their warm and energetic Christian bene-Lewis, and Martin Lonie, Esq., elder. IT has been our custom, in former years, to give a brief account of the proceedings of the Free Church Assembly, especially so far as they related to the deputation from our own Church; but as we have been prevented from doing so this year, until it has become a subject someway in the past, we must limit ourselves to a very brief record-useful, it may be, for future reference. The Eleventh Annual Meeting of Assembly was held at Edinburgh from the 19th to the 31st May. The Rev. Dr. Smyth, of Glasgow, was called to succeed Dr. M'Kellar as Moderator, and, on taking the chair, delivered a deeply impressive address. The following is an abstract of the amounts received on behalf of the various funds of the Church for the past year :— Missions and Education Total Notices of Books. John de Wycliffe, D.D. A Monograph. History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth .£90,660 18 8 37,099 13 84 79,714 13 84 51,765 14 16,507 1 8 £275,748 0 9 fluential instructors of the present age, nor would it be easy to estimate the service which has been rendered to the great Christian cause by his masterly papers in the "British Quarterly Review." Few have more carefully studied the past, and there mands so wide a horizon, or who are so are few of Zion's watchmen whose eye comkeenly alive to the signs of the times. This "Monograph" is a master-piece. It has reproduced the morning star of the English Reformation with a fulness and a vivacity such as can only occur when a powerful imagination is at work on the materials supplied by an extensive erudition. That so much information could be compiled regarding one who flourished five centuries ago, is a triumph of antiquarian learning; and that this information can be presented in a form so popular, and often so amusing, is no less a triumph of literary tact and skill. The result is well worthy of the affectionate care which the author has evidently expended in his labour of love, and in its present mature and attractive form, this biography will be a lasting monument of the historian himself. It is a truth, however, that this example is often too little copied by ministers of the Gospel, many of whom prefer to explain by hard human logic what might be far more easily and forcibly illustrated in the divinelyauthorized language of allegory. And it is also true that some preachers, with the best intentions, make unpardonable blunders when they do refer to the economy of vegetation, simply because they are entirely unlearned in the peculiarities of vegetable life: these have formed no part of their college education, and they may have been prevented in early life, by having been confined, in a measure, to towns and cities, from learning, by practical observation, the After reading the Life of Wycliffe, the lessons which plants are fitted to suggest. student cannot do better than proceed to Hence we sometimes hear in sermons that the new volume of Merle d'Aubigné. If the palm-tree, if bent over by a heavy weight, he should not wonder that a foreigner can will grow more vigorously in the opposite tell the story of the English Reformation direction; and also that the wild olive of more fairly and dispassionately than an Paul was grafted into the good olive, in Englishman, he will at least be surprised order that its nature might be changed. that a stranger should know our country The notion about the resisting power of the and our customs as well as ourselves. Of palm-tree is borrowed from a misunderstood this volume we say enough when we state passage in the writings of Xenophon; and our opinion that it is as fresh and charming the very general, though false, impression, as any of its predecessors; and of the pre- that the effect of grafting is to alter the sent edition it is enough to say, that be- nature of the scion engrafted, is in part sides being authorized and authentic, it is borrowed from Pliny, who, on this subject, embellished by ten portraits, exquisitely is far from being a safe guide. But why engraved. should our students be left to derive all their knowledge of such matters from the ancient classics, and not be encouraged to keep abreast of modern science and experience in things relating to the exposition of Scripture emblems and allegories? Why To the student of the Romish controversy, should they not be required to study such this is a work of great value. Its size, works as "The Book of the Garden," ere the minuteness of its research, and the they are set aside as qualified to expound number of its quotations, may somewhat the doctrines of Him who said, "I am the impede its general popularity, but for theo-true vine, and my Father is the husbandlogical and polemical purposes, it is a magazine of the choicest materials. Being chiefly devoted to Romish doctrine, this work is an excellent companion to Mr. Lewis's book, lately noticed, and which is the fullest English description of Romish worship. The Book of the Garden. By CHARLES M'INTOSH, F.R.P.S, &c. Part XIII. Edinburgh and London: Blackwood and Sons. Protestantism contrasted with Romanism, by the acknowledged and authentic Teaching of each Religion. Edited by the Rev. J. E. Cox, M.A. Two vols. London : Longmans. MANY scriptural emblems are derived from the garden; and from thence many lessons in Natural Theology may be procured. The example of our Saviour, and of His Apostles and Prophets, gives countenance to the use of similitudes drawn from natural objects in teaching Divine truth; and it might be expected that this example, so often set before the Bible student, would be largely copied by those whose office it is to expound the words of Him who counselled His disciples to "consider the lilies of the field." man." The Apostles had the gift of tongues, and students of divinity are required, as the only substitute for this, to study certain prescribed languages. But the Apostles were well acquainted with plants and with country life; and besides, inspiration prevented them from ever using an emblem that was not exactly correct and applicable. The counterpart to this knowledge and this agency is left to be acquired by our students as they best may, or they are allowed to remain without it. Almost every commentator has given a false description of the nature and objects of grafting, in attempting to explain the allegory of the wild and good olive. We extract one sentence from the excellent and standard work, a part of which is before us, to show the mistake which, in this matter, has been made, and to indicate an exercise for young biblical students which they might undertake with much benefit to themselves and others, namely, to explain the allegory used by Paul, and to show the great responsibility that rests, not on the stock, but on the engrafted branch. "In connexion," it is remarked, "with the influence the stock may be supposed to have upon the graft, we may observe, that it is perfectly possible to have a hundred sorts or more of apples upon one tree, and of pears upon another tree, each after its kind, yet no difference occurs in one of them, either in size, colour, flavour, or form, but each grows on as if it were on a distinct stock of its own." Paul could not, then, mean that the nature of the wild olive was to be changed by the mere process of grafting. CHURCH DEBTS. Correspondence. MY DEAR MR. EDITOR,-I have a word or two to say about debt, and I believe I can convey it within the narrowest limits in the epistolary form: hence this letter. You know that when I was settled in my present charge, the congregation was burdened with a heavy debt. I had not been long here until means were adopted for its liquidation. For the encouragement of others I am to tell you what we did, and how we did it. The first thing we did was to get our debt consolidated, that is, to gather it together into one sum, and look it in the face. About two years and a-half ago we called a meeting of the congregation, and laid the matter fully before them-means and motive. We began from that time to gather in all and sundry sums we could lay our hands over. But especially was our main stay a scheme of weekly subscriptions. We asked, and took, no more than a shilling a week from anybody; we came as low as a penny. We had a staff of lady collectors, who gathered up these sums and handed them in to the deacons at their monthly meeting. Although our congregation is neither very large nor very wealthy, we had as much as from 107. to 15l. a month-never below 107., seldom above 157. Then we had cards, which we circulated among the congregation; and by means of these, all odds and ends were gathered up. We had also a Meeting twice a year, at which we reported progress, and encouraged each other, and very pleasant we found them. We neither asked nor received much help from without, but laboured diligently at the matter our selves. About six weeks ago we found we had got the debt down to about 3507., and it was thought that we might make an effort and finish it. We deliberated the question fully at the Deacons' Court, and determined to try. And to begin, we began there. The clerk took a sheet of paper, and beginning with the minister he went round to all the office-bearers; he got 1207. I think to begin with. Then we felt our way cautiously, and got a good many of the larger sums promised. We went on these grounds-if we can pay off all the debt at once, what will you give? if we cannot pay it all we ask you for nothing. A kind friend in Manchester, who heard what we were at, gave us 201. Two friends in London, beyond our own borders, gave us 201. each. That was about all the help we got from without; the rest we did ourselves. When we had got a certain length in these conditional promises, we called a Meeting, and laid the matter fully before them. Then, or very shortly after, the whole sum was subscribed, and a little more. We got it subscribed for on the condition that if all was not subscribed, none should be asked-if we got clear of debt we were to keep clear of it; the whole was to be paid between that and the close of this year. The larger part of the remainder is already paid up, and we are now able to announce to all the readers of the "Messenger" who care to know, that we are substantially clear of debt, and mean to keep clear of it. We have paid, in that time, of principal and interest, between eleven and twelve hundred pounds. I may add one or two things to this dry detail of facts. I. We always had it as a motive before us, that our paying this debt might stir up many congregations, larger and more able, to go and do likewise. We hope they will take this hint. II. We thought that our first duty was to pay our money debt; none of us, as individuals, liked to be in debt; and we thought that, in our corporate capacity, the principle should be carried fully out. III. We felt that in continuing to pay interest for a sum of borrowed money we were benefiting a class of men who little needed it—those who had more money than they knew how to use, and that, in substance, we were sending the salary of a city missionary down the Thames yearly. IV. We always kept it before us as a motive, that we ought to do something for the souls of the neglected masses around us, and that the way to do this effectually was to pay this debt, save the interest, and go forward steadily, without that continued dun, dun, dunning for money-so much, so loudly, and, in many cases, so justly complained of. I must not occupy more of your space. I shall only add, that I hope soon to read in your pages that our example has been contagious. The three friends to whom I made allusion above, I have thanked personally already. We owe no more thanks, saving to Him who bestowed on us the money to give, and the will to give it.—I ever am, &c., THOMAS ALEXANDER. Chelsea, August, 1853. To the Editor of the " English Presbyterian Messenger." Port Glasgow, August 8, 1853. DEAR SIR,-Thinking that it might be interesting alike to yourselves and your readers, I enclose a vow of the Kirk Session of Monktoun to act up to what is contained in the "Confession of Faith." It is, as you see, dated Monktoun, 21st Sept. 1728. I think in the present crisis it would be well for every Protestant Kirk Session to follow the example here set forth. Begging the favour of your inserting it in September number of your valuable Magazine, of which I am a reader, I remain, dear Sir, Yours most truly, JUVENIS. "Att Monktoun, the twenty-first day of September, one thousand seven hundredth and twenty-eight year. We, under-subscribed members of the Kirk Session of Monktoun, doo seriously own and declare that the within and above Confession of Faith, consisting of thirty-three chapters, approven by former General Assemblies of this Church, and ratified by law in the year forty-nine, and ninety, to be the confession of our faith. And that we own the doctrines therein contained to be the true doctrines, which we will consistently adhere to. And lykwise that we own and acknowledge Presbyterian Church Government of this Church, now settled by law, by Kirk Sessions, Presbyteries, Provisionall Synods, and Generall Assemblies, to be the only Government of this Church. And that we will submitt thereto, concurr therewith, and never endeavour directly or indirectly the prejudice or subversion thereof. And that we shall observe uni formity of worship, and of the administration of all publick ordinances within this Church, as the same are at present per formed and allowed. "ROBERT ORR, JUN. "THOM. DUNKAN, "JAMES LOCKHEAD, "ALEXANDR CRIGHTONN, "GEORG MAUGOND, “DAVID JAFFRAY, "JOHN BORELL." [The above is written on a blank portion of the last page of a very large edition of the "Confession of Faith; no doubt the copy then used by the Session.-ED.] Missions. DEATH OF MRS. CHARTERIS. We have this month the painful duty of recording the loss by death of one known and beloved by many of us-the second in our little missionary band who has fallen in the field. Mrs. Charteris is no more; and while by her removal our dear brother has lost a faithful and affectionate partner, the Church has lost a most worthy and valuable member of her missionary staff, and many of the poor in the island of Corfu a true and a stable friend. Her health was delicate when she left her native land, and the change of climate did not much improve it; but, though often in weakness and sometimes in suffering, the extent and value of her assistance in the missionary work was known only to him who shared it, and to that Saviour in whom she lived, and for the extension of whose kingdom she left both home and kindred. It has been too evident, for some time past, that consumption had begun to do its work; and, as will have been seen from letters already published, for the greater part of this year she has been severe yet patient and uncomplaining sufferer. On Sabbath, the 14th of July, with a mind unclouded, in perfect peace, and in the full assurance of faith, she entered into the joy of her Lord. To our dear friends in their solitary dwelling, removed alike from the assistance of relatives and the consolations of Christian friendship, these seasons of affliction must have been doubly trying. But the Lord did not leave them always alone; for in the seasons of deepest sorrow He cheered them with visits of one and another of his own servants. Mr. Charteris says :-"She has all along been much assisted by such Christian friends as Mrs. Dickenson, Lady Valsimachi, and others; Lady V. came almost every day to read and pray with her, as |