blighted many of the pleasant places of the once goodly heritage. But Scotland's Church has at length experienced better days. Foremost in the rank of her modern Reformers, inasmuch as he was the father of that spirit which has since his day mightly revived, stands the distinguished name of Moncrieff, (hear, hear,)-a minister at once, and a Baronet, more venerable for his long and faithful services in the Church, than though he could have gathered around him all the honours and the titles of this world's heraldry. His mantle fell, when he ascended, and was caught up by another champion of Reformation, who has himself since been taken up to the General Assembly of Heaven. In the annals of the Church of Scotland, there stands no prouder name since the days of her first Reformer, than that of Andrew Thomson. (Hear.) Gifted by nature with great power and promptitude of speech,-of a noble and independent bearing, his spirit free and fearless, and akin to that of the first Reformers, especially to Luther, to whom, in several respects, he bore a marked resemblance, -he was a host within himself, the pride and the boast of the Christian people of Scotland. He contended for a time against overpowering majorities, and often endured the brunt of the onset single-handed, till, inspired by his reforming spirit, others of congenial sentiments arose, and rallied around him in the work of reformation. (Hear, hear.) But Thomson is no more, -the mighty has fallen in his strength, in the day of battle,the Christian soldier has entered into rest. One cannot help lamenting that he was so soon taken away; for never, surely, did the Church of his affections more need his services, -and never, to our view, might they have been more effective, both within and without her pale, than in the few years that have elapsed since his discharge from warfare. Meanwhile, the friends of reforming measures, though they are not disheartened, are left to mourn his loss, and say, "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the children of men." Next in the catalogue of the worthies of our own day, in the Church of Scotland, stands the name of Chalmers, -(hear,)—a name that will be associated with all that is great in ministerial enterprise, and splendid in the exhibition of the Truth, as long as Scotland's Zion will endure. Having, by the force and splendour of his genius, exhibited the Gospel in its most attractive form, and recommended it to men of cultivated and philosophic minds;—having, by his writings, Christianized commerce, politics, and philosophy, and forced an entrance for the truth to the halls of nobles and of princes, he now sustains the high and most befitting functions of an expositor of Theology, in one of her Universities, to many of the rising ministry of the Church of Scotland. Let us hope, that those who wait on his prelections may imbibe his spirit, and go forth, fired with something of a kindred ardour, to the field of min

isterial toil. Let us hope and pray, too, that he may iong be spared as an ornament and a bulwark to the Church of his native land. (Hear, hear.) Among the variety of his labours, there was one which, on account of its intimate connexion with the revival that has taken place in his Church, deserves to be mentioned; it is the scheme which he has been the main instrument in devising and executing, in furtherance of which there was raised, in the first year of its formation, the sum of £66,000,-(hear, hear,)—a sum which, while it goes directly to the extension of the Church, is one of the best evidences that the spirit of her fathers is not extinct, and that, despite the opposition and clamour raised against her from without, the Church of Scotland lives and is enthroned in the affections of her children. (Hear.) When speaking of the men and means of reformation, there is yet another name on which it were injustice to the memory of the great departed not to dwell with admiration and with praise. M'Crie,—(hear,)— was not indeed a member of the Church of Scotland, yet did none rejoice more in her revival, and long more ardently for the day of her complete purification and deliverance. He was eminently instrumental, too, in effecting what has been already done for her restoration. By counsel and encouragement,by faithful warning and admonition, when it was required,by sympathizing with her friends, and testifying against her enemies, and, above all, by holding up the faithful portraiture of her Reformation heroes, and vindicating their insulted memory, did he inspire many of her sons with noble sentiments, stimulate their zeal for the efficiency of Presbytery, and animate them in their contendings for the faith once delivered to the saints. He was, indeed, a noble specimen of the olden time,-fit representative of the men whose character he has delineated in his imperishable works. (Hear, hear.) Well, therefore, might the Church lament over his departure, and well may she think of him, whilst his body now sleeps in dust, in hope of a glorious resurrection, as of a great man fallen in Israel. (Hear, hear.) Although, of this immortal band of its defenders, one only remains, yet is not the Church of Scotland without abundant resources and means of renovation. A spirit has been stirred within her, which not all the coldness from within, nor the force of conflicting elements without, can quench or stifle, (hear,)-a spirit which, I am persuaded, will not rest till every yoke is broken off the neck of the daughter of Zion,-(hear, hear,)-and she asserts her privileges, as a portion of Christ's free and independent kingdom. There may, indeed, be for a time an indisposition to entertain popular measures in her Assembly, and a sensitive and shrinking dread of innovation on long-established usages; but the force of public sentiment from without, and the force of truth and perseverance within, must, ere long, overpower all obstacles, and

achieve all that the most ardent friends of Reformation can desire. (Hear.) Among her ministers there is an ever-increasing number of right-hearted men, men of high endowments and accomplishments, and eminently fitted for the exigencies of the present times. The press, too, has been enlisted in her aid, and publications of great power, and in immense variety, are constantly disseminating right views among the people. Of these, one of the most efficient comes forth in the form of a newspaper,-than which there can be no more powerful instrumentality employed, for the dissemination of sound views on all subjects, whether of public or ecclesiastical concern; and, without any reflections on the gentlemen of the press in this country, by whom our cause is often ably advocated, I cannot help digressing for a moment to remark, that we of this Church suffer grievous loss, through the want of some such vigorous advocacy as has been provided by the excellent and able journal which is more immediately identified with the interests of the Church of Scotland. (Hear, hear.) I hope, Sir, that the day is not far remote, when the Presbyterians of Ulster will have at their command, and for their behoof, the services of a free,consistent Presbyterian press,―a press which, while it holds up the mirror of Divine truth before the shifting scenes of this world's politics, will, at the same time, maintain that great and noble cause which has been consecrated by the best exertions of our forefathers; a cause which, although it may be overlooked in the agitations of these unsettled times, is yet associated with all that is sound in policy, and sublime in patriotism. (Hear, hear, hear.) To return, however, to the Church of Scotland. She is emphatically a reforming Church. Witness the efforts made, from year to year, in her assemblies, to restore, in all its vigour, the ancient constitution of the Church. (Hear, hear.) Let us only look into the proceedings of last Assembly, non-reforming although it has been pronounced by one of its most distinguished members, and we shall find, on the review, many indications of a godly reformation. (Hear, hear.) And, first, of the election of Mode. rator. Till very lately, the nomination to this, its highest honour, was virtually vested in the leaders of a certain party, who, a few months before the meeting of Assembly, selected whom they pleased, and it was issued forth, with an air of demi-official authority, that the appointment had been made, and their nominee was Moderator accordingly. A return, however, to the right way is fast beginning to be made. The dictators in this matter have either surrendered their dictation, or exercised it in such a mode as to secure the services of men at once acceptable to the people, and faithful to the interests of the Church. The principle of detur digniori is fast coming into operation; and, although in this matter Presbyteries and Synods have not the right of returning each a can

didate, as with us, I doubt not, but in a very few years the matter will be brought to a satisfactory adjustment. The Chair in the Assembly is at present occupied and dignified by one, to whom it is enough to refer in this Synod, to evince the suitableness and propriety of the appointment. Although this eminent individual may have been hitherto connected with an interest in the Church, whose general principles of Church policy we cannot approve, yet I am sure there is not one amongst us, who does not feel, that in the present Moderator of the Assembly we have a father and a friend. (Hear, hear.) Would that all Scotland's ministers were as true and loyal hearted, and that their career were marked by as many splendid proofs of piety and Christian patriotism. (Hear, hear.) And these indications of reform are seen in the advances made by the Venerable Assembly towards a reunion with kindred Churches of the Reformation. (Hear, hear.) I refer particularly to the negotiations with our own Church, with the Presbyterian Church in England, and with that section of the Secession which has shewn a disposition to return to the communion whence their fathers were unhappily expelled. It is surely a token of returning health and purity, that these friendly movements have been made. Some of them may not for years be consummated; but meanwhile they should all be hailed as evidences of the returning favour of her Head. If it is a good sign of an individual believer, that he desires to reciprocate kindly sentiments with all his brethren in Christ, in every place, it is an equally good symtom of a Church, that her sympathies, with expansive force, go forth to embrace kindred Churches, especially such as claim alliance with her, whether by descent or doctrinal conformity. (Hear.) "Let the Church of Scotland," then, to employ the language of an able writer in her ablest periodical, "go forth with expanding sympathies,-let her gather, with one hand, the multitudes that more nearly claim her care, and, holding out the other in generous friendship to all the uncorrupted branches of the Presbyterian family throughout the world,-let her lend the might of her name to the extension of the Gospel, in a form kindred to what she loves: then, while her own children shall call her blessed, the men of many lands will hail her as the wisest herald and the firmest champion of saving truth,-then shall unnumbered prayers arise to heaven, that she may ever sit on her own high rock, and behold the changeful flood of things temporal sweep by, herself unmoved, because her fortress is the Lord." (Hear, hear.) I have already referred to the scheme for Church extension and accommodation, than which there can be no more decided evidence of the increasing faithfulness and prosperity of the Church. In an evil day, she sunk into indifference to the ever-increasing necessities and spiritual destitution of her children. Contented with retaining those already within her pale, she became supine, as though no danger were to

be dreaded, in after times, from her increasing population,-a population unprovided with the ministrations of the Word and doctrine. She was, emphatically, at her establishment, the Church and guardian of the poor, carrying religion to the home and hearth of every peasant in the land. By degrees her vigilance relaxed, and though her numbers multiplied, she made no corresponding effort to attach them to the worship of the God of their fathers. Finding, however, that of her children many had renounced and hated her, that ignorance and irreligion had left them an easy prey to the seductions of a coarse political excitement, (hear, hear,)—or the ribaldries of a still coarser infidelity,-(hear, hear,)—that many, not only of her mechanics, but her merchants, had fallen into cold neutrality, or scowled in sullen opposition, she has at length attempted to make a more adequate provision for the religious instruction of all ranks and classes in the realm. She has plied the Government of the country with a statement of her claims, and although melancholy experience testifies that these are not the times at which to obtain additional supplies of money for religious uses from the State, the Government has so far met her wishes as to institute inquiry into the wants, religious and educational, of the Scottish people. Meanwhile, she has come forward nobly with her contributions, and, by her own independent exertions, has provided, during the last year, twentysix new Churches, in different neglected districts of the country. (Hear, hear, hear.) This, certainly, is no inconsiderable proof of returning vigour and prosperity. (Hear, hear.) May it be followed up by still greater and more extensive efforts, until Scotland be delivered from reproach, and stand forth proudly prominent, a model in her institutions to all the other nations in the earth! (Hear, hear.) Her missionary operations form another interesting feature in the Reforming Church of Scotland; and, not to speak of those that have been undertaken by associations of her own members, as the missions to the British Colonies of North America, or those in which they unite with other departments of the Presbyterian Church, as the Scottish Missionary Society, I would simply mention that important scheme, in which the Church collective has engaged, the field of which is India, that immense region, with its 130 millions of idolators. In justice to his memory, it should be mentioned, that this scheme was brought to its present state of efficiency mainly by one, who, although he opposed his influence, in the Assembly, to many wholesome measures, was yet a man of evangelical and comprehensive views, truly solicitous for the extension of the Gospel of the grace of God. The work which Dr. Inglis devised and carried forward in its commencement, has mightily advanced since his removal from the Church of Scotland. (Hear, hear.) The receipts of the Assembly's Foreign Mission, during