ture, and at the same time filled with such love to their Church, and with such a reverence for the great event. There was not one man in 500 who, though competent for the task, would have had the patience and perseverance to carry it through. When one thought of the difficulties that stood in the way of the difficulty of getting actual likenesses of such a number of men residing in such different parts of the country, and of the imperfect state of photography at the time it was necessary to have these likenesses procured-when one thought of these difficulties, it was a marvel that they had all been surmounted, and that they now saw the completed picture Dr Candlish had referred to. The picture represented the most marked event of the Disruption Assembly. That Assembly had many remarkable scenes, but none was so touching, so significant, as the one which the picture had recorded-the self-sacrifice of the men who on that day laid down their earthly all upon the altar of duty and allegiance to the great Head and King of the Church. (Hear, hear.) He had the pleasure of being long and intimately acquainted with Dr Macfarlane of Greenock. He enjoyed his personal friendship for many years, and he had a most vivid recollection of his personal appearance; and when he looked on that picture and saw him with the pen in his hand, as he, holding the richest living in Scotland, was signing it away, he seemed to see the very deed and to have before him the living man. (Applause.) And what was true of his likeness was not less true of a multitude of others. Of course, when the artist had to represent between 400 and 500 different individuals, it was no wonder if the likenesses in some cases be not complete and perfect; but he ventured to say that no figure picture ever was produced by any artist which could exhibit anything like the same proportion of thoroughly good, nay, striking likenesses as those which that picture contained. (Hear, hear.) And what gave them increased interest was the fact of their being so skilfully grouped together, so that one read a whole history in connexion, not only with the individual men, but in connexion with the Church-in connexion with all its great outgoings, and the great departments of public work in which it had been engaged. (Applause.) The men grouped in the Jewish Committee would be worth all the money the copies of that picture would cost, and there were a multitude of other groups, equally striking and characteristic, which, no doubt, would give a lasting interest and value to this remarkable production. It was well known that when Mr Hill, twenty-three years ago, full of the enthusiasm with which the event had inspired him, was preparing to grapple with the great task which he then took in hand, Lord Cockburn--who had quite a mind to conceive of the importance of the enterprise in which Mr Hill was engaged-urged him most earnestly to undertake it, saying that he felt that since the days of Knox (if even in Knox's days) there never had been an event so well worthy of being transmitted to posterity by the artist's hands. He hoped what Dr Candlish had said would be realised, and that the Church would acquire the picture and hand it down in some one of its halls to those who came after. He also hoped that ere long there would not be a manse in the Free Church of Scotland, and not many houses of its members, that would not have hung upon their walls one or other of the remarkable photographs of that remarkable picture. He had been informed by a gentleman well able to judge that the photographs, which were taken by a new process, were of the most enduring character, and, having seen a specimen

He

of the photographs produced by the new process, he ventured to say there was no engraving that could be made that could pretend to compete either in fidelity or beauty with the specimens exhibited. looked upon that, too, as a wonderful circumstance. It would have taken at least ten years' time for any engraving to have been produced, and copies of the picture could now be produced by this new system within twelve months to an almost indefinite extent.

Dr BEGG concurred in all that had been said by Drs Candlish and Buchanan. He thought after expounding so thoroughly the great value of the picture, it should be bought at once before all this was reported out of doors, otherwise they would find themselves too late. (A laugh.) He suggested the propriety of taking the picture through all the towns in Scotland, as he was sure many of the people in the provincial towns would delight in having such a picture exhibited to them; and if a good expounder was sent along with it, they would do much towards reviving the old spirit of the Disruption by means of this picture.

ASSEMBLY HALL COMMITTEE.

Mr BROWN DOUGLAS said, the Assembly Hall Committee had no formal report to give in this year, their only work having consisted in providing a new refreshment room, which, he trusted, might be suitable, but which, in its present position, was merely an experiment. He wished, however, to explain, that before the Hall could be considered to be complete, it was necessary, in the opinion of the Committee, to provide two additional rooms, and to make certain other alterations. With this prospect before them, the Committee felt somewhat aggrieved that the General Assembly had rather suddenly diminished by one-half the usual grant appropriated from the proceeds received for tickets. He understood this had been agreed to, on the supposition of it being consented to on his part. For this one year he did not, indeed, object to the grant being reduced from £100 to £50; but if this were intended as a permanent arrangement, he had serious objections to it. He thought it merely necessary at present to say, that out of £50 allowed to the Assembly Hall Committee, the expense of maintaining the building amounted to upwards of £40; and unless the Committee received a small increase to their funds from letting the Hall, they would be unable to effect the improvements they thought necessary. He should like to know whether the Assembly would be satisfied with the Hall as it is, or whether the Committee were still expected to go on in procuring the addition he had spoken of, and without which accommodation, he believed, the General Assembly should not and would not be content. But he had to protest against the reduction of the former grant of £100; and stated that, but for the fact that they let the Hall during the year, they would find themselves unable to meet the expenses incurred. He also stated that certain portions of the Hall had not been finally completed-especially they required two committee rooms, and he wished to know whether the Assembly would authorise them to acquire property with that view.

Dr CANDLISH said, he thought it was reasonable the Assembly should say whether or not the building required additional improvements. His own opinion was, that Mr Brown Douglas would find no difficulty in getting some of the ladies to raise the additional funds necessary. He could not conceive that there should be any difficulty in this; and it

seemed to him that in completing the Hall it would be better to get the funds in that way than from the ordinary income, which was barely sufficient for the calls made upon it.

The report was approved of, with this deliverance :- "The Assembly specially approve of the views of the Committee with reference to the completion and improvement of the Hall, and, in the event of their making any appeal to the friends of the Church in behalf of this object, the Assembly hereby recommend it very earnestly to their liberal support."

PROPOSED LIBRARY OF REFERENCE.

The Assembly next took up the following overture from the Presbytery of Edinburgh :-"It is humbly overtured by the Free Presbytery of Edinburgh that the General Assembly shall establish a complete Library of Reference, containing, as far as possible, all books, documents, and papers connected with, or bearing upon, the past history and legislation of the Church, to be accessible to the office-bearers of the Church, and others having interest, at all proper times, and especially during the sittings of the Supreme Court."

Dr BEGG, in supporting the overture, said that every other body analogous to the Free Assembly had a library of reference, and he thought that it was extremely desirable they should obtain one. In the first place, there was no such thing, so far as he knew, as a complete collection of books, documents, and papers, connected with the legislation of the Church of Scotland. It was extremely difficult for individual members to get a tolerable collection of such books as were necessary to give a correct view of the past to help in the solution of problems that were brought before them; but suppose a man had such a library in his house, it was useless when he came to Edinburgh. It appeared to him, moreover, that it would be of great importance that they should keep permanent records of all the blue books and acts passed regularly indexed. He also thought that it would be desirable to have copies of the records of corresponding Churches, such as the United Presbyterian Church. He recollected the Wesleyan Methodists sent them a complete collection of their books, but he did not know where they had been laid. He wished also the whole histories of the Church, and all the books connected with other Presbyterian Churches.

Mr WALKER moved the adoption of the overture. The motion was unanimously agreed to, and a committee was appointed-Dr Begg convener-to see the object secured.

DIFFUSION OF PRESBYTERIAN PRINCIPLES.

Dr BEGG gave in the report of the Committee on the Diffusion of a Knowledge of Presbyterian Principles. (No. XXIII.) He did not mean that men should be excommunicated because they did not adhere to their principles; but he meant to say that Presbyterianism was held by us to be founded on and was agreeable to the Word of God; and at present there was no means of diffusing information on the subject. The report suggested that " All students of theology might be carefully examined on some standard work on Presbyterianism, such as Gillespie's 'Aaron's Rod Blossoming,' Anderson's 'Defence of Presbyterian Church Government,' or the excellent Plea of Presbytery,' by Irish ministers. The Presbyteries might specially see to this. To make sure that the instructors of the

people are themselves properly instructed is certainly the foundation of the whole work." Then as regarded the congregations, it was of great importance that they should have some distinct knowledge on this subject. In regard to this, the committee suggested two things-first, that when office-bearers were ordained in churches, occasion might be taken to expound to the people the scriptural principles and authority of Presbyterian church government; and, second, a convenient occasion for expounding the scriptural authority of Presbyterian church government might also be found in connexion with every ordination or induction of a minister. That plan was adopted in the Irish Presbyterian Church, and the committee ventured to recommend it for the adoption of the Assembly.

Dr CANDLISH said they were deeply indebted to Dr Begg for the attention he had paid to this subject. It was of the greater importance, on account of the loose views prevailing at the present time, that they should diffuse a knowledge of their Presbyterian principles. He thought the suggestions in the report were well worthy of consideration by Presbyteries. He would take the liberty of suggesting that the Presbyteries, in examining students, could not take a better book on this subject than the portion of Dr Cunningham's "Historical Theology" that bears on the history of the Church. (Hear, hear.) He did not believe it would be possible to find so exceedingly calm, candid, and sound a defence of their church government as was contained in that admirable volume.

The Assembly approved of the report, and recommend its suggestions to the careful attention of ministers, presbyteries, and kirk-sessions.

EVENING SEDERUNT.

The Assembly met in the evening at seven o'clock.

THE HIGHLANDS.

The Rev. Dr M'LAUCHLAN gave in the report of the Committee on the Highlands and Islands. The reverend Doctor said-I now lay on the table of the Assembly the report of the Committee for the Highlands and Islands for the last year. That report will be found as usual to divide itself into several branches, beginning with what is most essential in connexion with the carrying out of our enterprise, our financial condition. Last year was what we are disposed to look upon as our special year-the year on which we receive our biennial collection. We had been led to expect on that occasion an increase on our usual biennial receipts. We had made a strong appeal,-we had showed the difficulties of our position,-we had showed that we had about £1000 to raise by donations the previous year, we had referred to the increased wealth of the country, wealth of which the members of the Free Church must have obtained their share,-we had brought forward arguments which we thought would have been irresistible, including that of our only getting a collection once in the two years. And yet, I am sorry to say, the whole had not the desired effect, our collection amounting to the sum of £3084, a sum barely in advance of that contributed in 1863. The remarkable fact to set against this is, that ten years ago our income from the collection was up to £3300. I do not pretend to be able to account for this state of things, but an inquiry into the real causes of it is one not without its interest and importance. In the meantime, the

committee have been economising to the utmost of their power, and are able to show a considerably larger balance than this time two years, being as £817 to £1656—(cheers)—but they will require a sum of at least £800 in donations during this year to enable them to carry on their work with any measure of comfort. They desire to remind friends who have never helped them hitherto of this state of matters, and very earnestly to ask their assistance. The report proceeds to represent the demands made on the committee during the past year for supply. At the period of last Assemdly they had forty-nine preachers on their roll. With these they had first of all to supply sanctioned charges, either vacant or which had never been filled. It is true that with regard to these charges the committee have no jurisdiction; but having the preachers in their service, they have felt it to be imperative on them to aid Presbyteries and congregations, in as far as possible, in obtaining suitable supply. This they have felt to be due both to congregations and preachers. (Hear, hear.) The importance of the former cannot be overlooked, while the latter have a right to their claim to be heard in vacant congregations being fairly considered. In supplying these charges the committee wish it to be understood that they have found it necessary to be in a great measure guided by the wishes of the congregations to be supplied. These, in a large majority of cases, fix upon the preacher to be sent; and unless similarly employed elsewhere, the committee uniformly appoint him. This, to a certain extent, limits the discretion of the committee in sending preachers in any fixed order to such charges; but whenever their discretion is left free, they endeavour to secure a hearing in vacant charges for all the preachers on their roll. They are most wishful that this should be known to the preachers, as they have heard occasional complaints of the interests of preachers being overlooked. But there is one thing they cannot undertake, and that is, to secure the popularity of their preachers. Some young men may become impatient at not being called so soon as they expected; and many, as men are very prone to do in such cases, lay the blame at the door of the committee, and the want of opportunity for displaying their gifts— (laughter)-but I for one am not disposed to take any portion of such blame, and would remind our young friends that for their acceptability, under God, they must depend upon themselves-(cheers)-and that if they really possess the necessary gifts for the gospel ministry, and cultivate them faithfully, there is little fear of their not being heard of and fairly appreciated. (Hear, hear.) Let a man be planted in St Kilda and shine there, and there is little chance of his light not breaking out in some way and being heard of. The number of Gaelic preachers at present is forty-eight, of whom thirty-nine are in the service of this committee. For the services of these the demand is urgent. There are at this moment twenty-two vacant charges in the Highlands, being one for every two preachers on the roll. It is long since the number of vacancies was so large, but God has seen fit to remove many of our most valuable ministers. I may mention the Rev. Mr Flyter of Alness, and the Rev. Mr Matheson of Kilmuir, although it is true that their charges are not vacant. The feeling is still strong in Highland congregations in favour of calling only settled ministers, and several instances have lately occurred of this, in which the calling congregations have been disappointed; but alongside of this there is a growing tendency to call