that this church should, under the pressure of any emergency, throw her doors open to any class of men, as the Established Church of England seems to have done. I am far from saying that we should indefinitely throw open our doors to men of all professions late in life; but there should at least be in the church a recognized competency to open the door, if it shall see fit, to such men, the church should be prepared to take their case into consideration, and make trial of their gifts, so that without the bar of eight or ten years' study, they may be admitted at once to the service of their Master, love to whom has prompted them to make the application. I am disposed to recommend that any such application should be made to the Committee and transmitted to the Assembly, that each case may be judged on its own merits, each case, I mean, of an applicant seeking still farther exemption from the strict rule that I have already proposed.
It will be seen that very much is here made to depend on examination, which, doubtless, is perfectly reasonable, provided there were security for faithfulness in conducting it. If entrusted to the presbyteries, however, we fear very little dependence could be placed on it. Indeed, to whomsoever it might be committed, it would be accommodated to the exigencies of the church. After the thanks of the Assembly had been rendered to the conveners of the several committees, it was agreed that a deputation should be sent to the Presbyterian Church of the United States, and that the Commission should be authorized to select the ministers, and, if they see cause, the elders to be sent. A variety of minor arrangements were then made. Next meeting was appointed to be held at Edinburgh on the 16th of May 1844, and the moderator dissolved the Assembly at the close of a long and able address.
The length of this article puts it entirely out of our power to offer almost any remarks on the Free Church, and it is the less necessary, that we were very lately handling the subject. We must say, however, that this Assembly, like its predecessor, is entitled to the credit of having transacted its business in a manner which contrasts most advantageously with that of some other ecclesiastical courts. There are in it a great number of admirable business-men, who have been under the best of training for some years past. Its officials are selected with great judgment. Its business is all thoroughly canvassed in large and well-chosen committees, which come forward with elaborate reports; and the understanding seems to be that in public, there shall be little else than moving that these be adopted, complimenting the committee, and thanking the convener. This precludes a great deal of what Mr Macaulay so felicitously styles "synodical babblement," and saves the character of the Assembly. At present the Assembly has also the advantage of possessing a few laymen of rank and education, familiar with parliamentary and other public procedure. This is an advantage, however, which may, in time to come, be purchased too dearly. It sounds delightfully for a nobleman, who lately had the Queen for his guest, to be referring to the late under-secretary of state, the heir presumptive of a British peerage and of a princely estate, as my excellent brother elder." And when men of that class are possessed of piety, talents, and zeal, the benefit they may afford to a church by holding office in it is unspeakable, and that church would be infatuated which did not avail itself of this to the full. But the temptation to dispense with the first great requisite of piety is, in such cases, almost too strong for frail mortals to resist, and what greater calamity could befal a church than an irreligious, dissolute eldership of influence and wealth? Let the Free Church, then, be content with a small and select portion of the aristocracy in her sessions "not many mighty, not many noble." There is no class, moreover, on whose stedfastness a dissenting church can place so small dependence. It is long since Calvin wrote in sadness-" Quid dicam nisi rarum in proceribus esse constantiæ exemplum."
MURRAY AND GIBB, PRINTERS, GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH.
ADDRESS, Pastoral, from a Ses-
sion to a Congregation under
its charge, read from the pul-
pit on the last Sabbath of De-
cember 1842,
Affairs, Politico-Ecclesiastical,
BOARD, Central, Suggestions
respecting the,
CALLS :-Mr Andrew M'Far-
lane, 31-Mr A. G. Hogg,
287-Mr Alex. D. Kinnin-
mont, 437-Mr John Ogilvie,
216-MrT. Pearson, 287-Mr
Alex. Paterson, 286-Mr
Alex. Stewart, 168-Mr Da-
vid Lumgair, 640.
Charity, Add Brotherly Kind-
Chinese Missions,
Christian Missions to the Hea-
then, No. I., 71—No. II.,
126—No. III., 253—No. IV., 449
CONGREGATIONAL MISSIONARY
SOCIETIES:-Alloa, 320, 487-
Ayr, 216-Auchtergaven, 285
-Berwick-on-Tweed, 286-
Greenock, Union Street, 544
-Grayfriars, Glasgow, 544
-Kirkwall, 168-Lauder, 487
-London, 285-Methven, 285
-Perth, 487-North Congre-
gation, 115-Portobello, 319
-Savoch of Deer, 32-Stran-
raer, 285-Stirling, 32-Stow,
590-Stromness, 115.
Convocation, the
Cursory Thoughts on Matthew
Extracts from the Journal of a
Recent Tourist, No. III. Hol-
land, 86-No. IV., 184-No.
V. Strasburg, 408, 615.
Few Thoughts Suggested by the
Early Death of a very dear
Young Wife,
Gospel Call not Inconsistent
with a Definite Atonement, the 503
Hints in Reply to the Query,
Whether a Deposed Minister,
&c.,
Historical Notices of the United
Associate Congregation of
Cambusnethan,
Paul's Thorn in the Flesh,
Persia, Extracts of Letters from
the Rev. William Glen,
POETRY:-Joy in Heaven over
the Penitent Sinner, 472-
The Necessity of Submission
to God, 199-Palestine, 198-
Knowledge, 627.
PRESBYTERY MEETINGS:-Aber-
deen, 283-Annan and Car-
lisle, 281-Arbroath, 284, 485
-Coldstream and Berwick,
214-Cupar, 214, 284, 407-
Dundee, 114, 167, 485, 589-
Dunfermline, 164, 319, 541-
Edinburgh, 31, 114, 167, 215
-Elgin, 30, 167, 318, 436, 543
-Glasgow, 114, 166-Kil-
marnock, 29, 164-Lancashire,
114, 165-Newcastle, 31, 165,
317, 436, 543-Paisley, 30-
Selkirk, 30, 113, 374, 437, 485,
543, 639-Stirling and Fal-
kirk, 164, 318, 319-Wigton,
112, 283-Kinross, 640-Aln-
wick, 640.
Probationers' List, Remarks on
the Overture respecting, 26,
193, 512.
Prodigal Son, The, No. I., 79-
No. II., 239.
Quarterly Record of Missions,
49, 217, 385.
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE, Fo-
REIGN-Canada, Extracts of
Letters from Rev. William
Barrie, 386-From Rev. J.
Cassie, 52-From Rev. John
Jennings, 386-From Rev. A.
Kennedy, 384-From Rev.
Alex. Lowden, 547-From
Rev. John Porteous, 392, 546
-From Rev. Alex. Ritchie,
545.-Jamaica, Extracts of
Letters from Rev. J. Aird,
396-From Rev. Mr Ander-
son to the King and Chiefs of
Old Calabar, 549-From John
Dawson, 53-From Rev. W.
Jameson, 399-From Mr
George M'Lachlan, 398-
Extract of a Letter from New
Broughton Place, 231-From
Rev. James Paterson, 221,
223-Death of Rev. James
Paterson, 227- From Rev.
John Robson, 227 - - From
Capt. Turner to Rev. Messrs
Blyth and Anderson, 548.—
Persia, Extracts of Letters
from Rev. W. Glen, 56.-
South Australia, Extract of
Letter from the Rev. Ralph
Drummond, 55, 550 Reli-
gious Revivals in Virginia,
A.D. 1842, 106.
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE, SE-
CESSIONAL :-Meeting of the
United Associate Synod, 322,
364, 575-Probationers, dis-
tribution of, 48-384.
INTELLIGENCE, MISCELLANE-
OUS: Bicentenary of the
Westminster Assembly, 437
-British Support of Jug-
gernaut's Temple, 162-Ge-
neral Assembly, Meeting of,
375-Indian (West) and Af-
rican Educational and Theolo-
gical Institution, 115-Meet-
ing of the Assembly of the
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Free Presbyterian Church of
Scotland, 438, 641-Politico-
Ecclesiastical Affairs, 33-
Presentation of Encyclopædia
Britannica to the Rev. Robert
Moffat, Missionary to South
Africa, 37-Religious Revi-
vals in Virginia, A.D. 1842,
106-Review of the Presby-
terian Churches in Scotland,
488, 590-Scottish Board for
Bible Circulation, 119-Re-
marks on the Review of the
Blow at the Root, 531-Re-
monstrance of the Missionaries
of Jamaica with the majority
of the Baptist Missionaries in
the island, 297-Reply to
Αδελφοι, 523.
REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF Books:-
A Blow at the Root, and the
Blow Averted, 479-An Ad-
dress to the Christian People
of Scotland, issued by appoint-
ment of the Convocation of
Ministers held at Edinburgh,
November 1842, 93-Baxter's
Oil Coloured Portraits of the
Missionaries Williams
Moffat, 316-Bennet's Theo-
logy of the Early Christian
Church, 151- Burn's Ser-
mons, 105-Calvin and Storr
on the Epistles to the Philip-
pians and Colossians, 30-
Clarkson and Laird's Letters,
&c., 32, 100-Coleman's Anti-
quities of the Christian Church,
151-Davidson's Sacred Her-
meneutics Developed and Ap-
plied, 360-Discourses on the
Nature and Extent of the
Atonement of Christ, 542 —
Friendly Counsels to Female
Servants, 28-Hades or the
Unseen, 216 Henderson's
Sermons on Doctrinal and
Practical Subjects, 357 -
Huie's Sacred Lyrics, 104-
Jay's Works, corrected and
revised by himself, 314-Life
of the Rev. James Renwick,
the last of the Scottish Mar-
tyrs, 483- Moral and Reli-
gious Anecdotes, 431 - Mor-
tal Life and the State of
the Soul after Death, 291-
Nisbet's Essays, Addresses,
and Reviews, 213-Pringle's
Lecture on the Harmony of
the Old and New Testaments
315-Prout's Memoirs of the
Life of the Rev. John Wil-
liams, Missionary to Polyne-
sia, 156, 207, 272, 309-Pres-
byterianism more Scriptural
than Independency, 301-
Robson's Addresses, 105—
Strictures on certain Portions
of Dr Marshall's Work on the
Atonement, 200-The History
of the Rise, Progress, and
Principles of the Relief
Church, embracing Notices of
the other Religious Denomi-
nations in Scotland, 473, 509
-Temple's Sermons, 200-
The Limits and Extent of
Private Judgment, 422-The
Principles of Free Inquiry and
Private Judgment, 422-
Thomson's Outlines for the
Pulpit, 277-The Scottish Ec-
clesiastical Register and Na-
tional Almanac for the Year
1843, 28-Memoirs of Chris-
tian Missionaries, 638-Jay's
Works, 638-Introduction to
Arithmetic, 639 - Veitch's
Collections for Junior Classes,
213-Barnes' Notes, 628-
Sacred Geography, 632-Me-
moir of Greville Ewing, 634
Cuthbert's Strictures, 637.
John Cooper, 435 - James
Smith, 239-Arquis, 518—
Αδελφοι, 253-Γνησεος Αδελ-
pos, 536-Justicia, 30-The-
ta, 198-The Reviewer, 530
A. D., 243-A. G. K., 176-
A. T., 125-D. 343-D. K.,
197-D. R. K., 248-D. S.,
83, 234-E. C. B., 93—G. 1.,
92, 193-J. G., 149-K., 26-
M. M., 460-N., 413-Ń. N.,
MURRAY AND GIBB, PRINTERS, GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH.
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