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interest when they happen to be their own. (Cheers.) But the question is of the last importance to Scotland; and we should look to this, the case may soon be our We think ourselves safe in this kingdom, and regard it as impossible that such a state of matters should arise here. But it occurs to me that in this lies hid the very strength of the opposition made to Presbyterianism in this kingdom. One question is taken up here, a different one there, and a third in England; and thus, by assailing us in detachments, we are prevented from cordially sympathis'ng and uniting with each other. (Hear, hear.) I trust that this Assembly will take a more enlightened view of the matter, and that we will see it to be our duty, not only as an Assembly of the Church of Christ, to lift up a testimony in behalf of truth, but also to use the influence which we possess throughout Scotland, to have the outrageous wrong which has been done redressed, and the rights of our brethren speedily and fully restored. I beg to move then, that the Assembly fully concur in the spirit of the overtures which have been presented, and resolve to petition the legislature of this country for the restoration of those rights and privileges of which our Presbyterian brethren in Ireland have been deprived by a recent decision. (Approbation.)

Dr BROWN of Aberdeen supported the motion, and stated, that he fully concurred with what his friend Mr Begg had said. By the recent decision of the House of Lords, said the reverend Doctor, a great and grievous injury has been inflicted on the people of God in Ireland; and I am of opinion with Mr Begg, that there is no reason to anticipate a happy result in the case, for the very fact of the appointment of a committee almost leads us to infer what the conclusion will be. Under all the circumstances, the case, I think, required no consideration at all; but, on the contrary, a measure should have been introduced at once which would have remedied the evil, aud secured their just rights and privileges to our Irish Presbyterian brethren.

overtures.

Mr MACKENZIE of Dumblane briefly expressed his approval of the spirit of the No government on earth had a right to interfere with the appointments of God intended to regulate the affairs of men. Marriage unquestionably was instituted by God; and therefore all attempts to alter it, whether by popish councils or the House of Lords, was an encroachment on the prerogative of the Lord of heaven and earth. The motion was then agreed to, and a committee appointed to prepare a petition.

THE IRISH DEPUTATION.

The Rev. Mr BEGG then introduced Dr Barnett, one of the members of the deputation from the Irish Presbyterian Church, and the Rev. Mr Gibson of Belfast. The reverend gentlemen were received with cordial feeling; and Dr Barnett thereupon proceeded to address the Assembly.

Dr BARNETT then addressed the Assembly as follows:-Moderator, Fathers, and Brethren,-In availing myself of the privilege of addressing this venerable Assembly, it will not, I am sure, be expected that I should enter on any defence of the course taken by your church in the painful and protracted controversy in which you were destined to be engaged, nor of the position in which the result of that controversy has placed you. This were equally unnecessary and presumptuous as regards you, who have the testimony of your conscience that you have taken your stand on the side of God and of truth,-the side which you respect for the revealed authority of the King of Zion,-the side which your allegiance to His crown, and your fidelity to your solemn engagements, required you to take. And as regards us of the Irish Church, whatever our testimony is worth, we have already, on various occasions, and in various forms, recorded that testimony in favour of the scriptural character, and the vital importance of the principles for which you have been honoured to contend, and for the consistent maintenance of which you have been enabled to make so large and so willing a sacrifice. We can truly say, that we marked with eager solicitude your every movement in the progress of the conflict through which you have passed, and that throughout our church at large, prayer was offered to God for you unceasingly. And we are verily persuaded that God graci

ously regarded our prayers, in hedging in your path,-in leading you in the right way, in sustaining you amidst your arduous struggle, and in at length conducting it to an issue which, however much to be regretted in some of its aspects, is, as we conceive, highly glorifying to his own name, and highly honourable to you. We unfeignedly rejoice in your name, and character, and standing, as the Free Protesting Church of Scotland; and now that you are free,-free from State patronage,-free from State intrusion and State domination also, and, I take leave to add, free from the incubus of Moderatism,-we cherish the assurance that you will carry the process of reformation into every department of your Zion in which it may be needed, and that you will prosecute all the objects and ends of a Church of Christ with continually increasing zeal and energy. We cordially congratulate your Church on the many and signal tokens of the Divine favour which she has received since you ceased to be connected with the Establishment. We congratulate you on the steadfast adherence of your people to their good profession, notwithstanding the difficulties which, in many localities, they have had to encounter, and the sore trials and privations they have had to endure. We congratulate you on the brotherly sympathy which has been shown you by so many sections of the Church of God both at home and abroad, and on the generous spirit in which they have responded to your appeals for pecuniary aid. We trust that the feelings of reciprocal regard and confidence which must needs have thus been engendered, will be productive of the happiest effects, in leading to a closer intimacy among the friends of truth, and to a more cordial and extensive co-operation for the defence of our common evangelism in this dark and cloudy day. We congratulate you also on the highly encouraging state of your various missions. And, finally, we congratulate you on the prosperous condition of the funds in connection with all the schemes of your Assembly,—a condition which clearly indicates that at least a large proportion of your people have resolved, that in so far as they are concerned, the Christian enterprises in which you are embarked shall not suffer for want of means. When I reflect on these things, and when I look at the numerous overtures now lying on your table, as announced last evening, and at the many subjects which you have agreed shall engage your conversation at your social meeting during the next week,-all having for their object the remedying of evils, or the advancement of pure religion,-I am constrained to believe that God is with you, and in you, of a truth,—that he has done great things for you, and that he designs to do great things by you. Dr Barnett next proceeded briefly to advert to the affairs of the Irish Assembly, in reference especially to the recent increase of her congregations, to her missionary operations, and to the schools under her care for teaching the Roman Catholic population to read the scriptures; and concluded by re-assuring the Assembly of the brotherly regards of the Church which he represented, and of her ardent desire for their peace and prosperity.

Dr Barnett having concluded, Mr GIBSON declined to speak at present, apologiz. ing that he was not one of the deputation, but had at first agreed to address them, because his friend the Rev. Mr Dill was not then present; but Mr Dill had since entered the Assembly, and he now begged to introduce him.

Mr DILL was received with the like sympathy that marked the reception of bis friends; and after some hesitation to address the Assembly, from want of preparation, he proceeded as follows:-When our deputation appeared before you at our first meeting last year, they felt some difficulty as to the title by which they would address you, for you had not then assumed your distinctive denomination; but this is a difficulty which we do not labour under, for you are now known throughout the world by the name of the Free Church of Scotland, and by this name, so happy and appropriate for the representatives of a church which, although partially supported by the State, is perfectly free, I delight to address you. You are, Sir, the Free Church of Scotland-free not merely because emancipated from the oppressive dominion of the civil power-the unrighteous interference of civil courts; your freedom consists in something more than this. But you, Sir, stated in your opening address, that you are no longer trammelled by an association with those with whom it was impossible for you to co-operate or concur. You are free, too, from those fetters which may be called parochial. There are no longer any districts tabooed against

you. You are at liberty to carry the Gospel into every parish of the land. But that item in the list of your liberties to which the present circumstances of my own church lead me chiefly to refer, is, your freedom from those bonds and delusions which you in common with many of ourselves laboured under, in reference to the prelatic church of these countries. We had, Sir, well nigh forgotten the persecutions that our forefathers suffered from that Church in former days. We viewed with a growing indifference the vital defects of her constitution. We became almost in

sensible to the essential errors and intolerance of her canons and other portions of her creed. Many had come to regard her not merely with charity, but with positive favour and admiration. The profound erudition of many of her divines,-the devoted piety of multitudes of her people,—her vast influence,—her unequalled splendour, her exhaustless wealth,-her thousand attractions-had so won upon us, that many of the leaders both of your church and ours, exhausted their powers of eloquence in pronouncing her panegyric. The Scottish Establishment was proud of a sister so magnificent, powerful, and illustrious; did every thing possible to conciliate her favour; and avoided, as the most dreaded of evils, incurring her displeasure. Hence there was the utmost reluctance in doing any thing that might awaken her jealousy. To this I mainly attribute it that so little was done by the Scottish Establishment to extend the principles of Presbyterianism beyond the limits of Scotland. When the matchless facilities afforded by the constitution of the Presbyterian Church are considered, and, at the same time, the intelligence and enterprize of the Scotch character, it must be allowed she had means of extending her principles and promoting her interests almost unparalleled. Scotchmen, as is well known, are to be found in every quarter of the world, not of obscure and powerless individuals, but in high and influential stations, wealthy, energetic, and intellectual. We find them in the east, west, north, and south,—at the seat of government, and in the remotest extremities of the empire, and in every department, and in every place we find them occupying an influential position,-high at court, in the cabinet, in the legislature, in the army, in the navy, in civil, mercantile, manufacturing, and all other establishments. Had such persons been deeply embued with the principles of Presbyterianism, and had they been aided and encouraged by the Church at home, what might they not have done in extending these principles throughout the world? But being in general little attached to Presbyterianism, and not having the ordinances of the Presbyterian Church provided for them, they speedily became attracted to the fashionable and imposing services of the English Establishment, and soon became not only indifferent, but in many cases hostile to their own. Look to London, for example. I have often heard it stated by those who possessed the best means of information, that there are 100,000 Scotch in that great metropolis, many of them of immense wealth and influence, and for them only six or seven chapels have been provided, most of them obscure and inconvenient, and presided over by ministers who were generally almost unknown in London, and possessing no status in the Scotch Church,-impatient sojourners, ready to be off the moment a more comfortable settlement offered in their native land. The consequence of this was, what any one might have anticipated, the nobility and gentry of Scotland frequenting London for a part of every year, repaired to the English Church, and returned home with Episcopal tastes and principles, the zealous promoters of Episcopacy in their several neighbourhoods. To this is mainly to be ascribed the loss you have sustained of so large a portion of your aristocracy. Almost every large town in England affords a similar instance. Look again to the British army. It is computed that there are at least 20,000 Presbyterian troops in that army, or nearly one-fifth of the entire; and for these no instruction, according to the forms of their own Church, was provided until recently, when something was effected by the Synod of Ulster, unless when quartered in Scotland, which could not happen more than for a few months in 18 or 20 years. (Hear, hear.) These men, fighting the battles of their country, exposed to all the temporal and spiritual perils incident to their profession, were left destitute of the instructions and consolations of their own religion. The Presbyterian sailors in the British navy were similarly neglected. To this hour no effort has been made, so far as I am aware, to have them provided with the services of their own Church. Some

thing was done for the colonies, but how little in comparison with what their vast importance demanded!—and even that little was effected chiefly through the means of individual effort. In Ireland we have experienced, during the last few years, much sympathy and support from our Scottish friends, which I gladly and gratefully acknowledge; but I will not hesitate at the same time to say, that the prosperity of Presbyterianism in that country is but in a slight degree attributable to any aid or encouragement it received from the parent Establishment. For centuries it was almost wholly neglected; and when overtures were made by the Synod of Ulster towards an intercourse between the Churches, these were coldly received, indeed, it might be said, insultingly repelled. When, indeed, it became known,-because from the great ignorance of the Scotch Establishment regarding her Irish daughter, it was a discovery, that the Synod of Ulster enjoyed a regium donum-this seemed to be considered as giving her some claim to recognition; but the Irish Presbyterians of that day thought that they would not have been much honoured in availing themselves of a favour extended to them, not in consequence of their Presbyterian principles, but of Government patronage. So high did Establishment notions run, that I have heard it stated that a former minister of Edinburgh enjoined his son, when going to reside in Belfast, not to attend the services of the Presbyterian, but those of the Episcopal Church. And what was the result of this extreme timidity in promoting the spread of Presbyterianism, lest it might arouse the jealousy of the English Church? Exactly what might have been anticipated. The Scottish Church possessed but a cramped and stunted existence even in Scotland, and was comparatively unknown, unregarded, and uninfluential, every where else. The Episcopal Establishment had succeeded in stretching out her roots and branches to the remotest quarters of the empire. She had entwined herself around almost every institution; she had occupied with her adberents almost every department; she filled the throne, the court, the cabinet, the parliament, the army, the navy,-in a word, almost every place of power and influence, with her votaries, whilst the poor Scottish Establishment, as the reward of her exceeding civility,—I should say, in plain terms, of her suicidal succumbency,—was shut out of every place,-unknown at court, unrepresented in parliament, uninfluential every where,—an isolated and impotent thing, which a minister could prostrate with a breath, that a court of law could trample on with safety and with triumph. And what did that Church, for which so much was sacrificed, do for you when you were struggling for every thing which you held most dear? To her, of course, you looked for sympathy and assistance. And was it rendered? Oh, I shall never forget the mingled and conflicting feelings with which I read Dr Chalmers' moving appeal to the English bishops to save his Church from ruin. I was filled with admiration of the simplicity and confidingness so characteristic of a mind so mighty, but with something amounting to pain and vexation that such a supplicant should have been brought to bow before a bench so haughty and insensible. If ever there was a man whose slightest wish should have been received with at least respectful attention, it was Dr Chalmers. He had placed the Church and the world under the deepest obligations, and had imposed an especial debt of gratitude on the English Establishment. How, then, was his appeal received by the heads of that Establishment? I will not use those terms which I would consider as fitly characterizing its reception; but I may say, that the appeal awakened no echo,-it received no response. The Prelatic Church did not only stand by to see what she called her Presbyterian sister torn limb from limb, but I firmly believe that to the influence of prelatic principles and policy she is indebted for her disruption. She has not merely consented to the rending asunder of the venerable fabric, but has cast the stone which has prostrated its better part, and which will, as I believe, at no distant day, lay the entire structure in ruins. And what I consider no less indicative of the animus of that Church, is the unpitying attitude she has assumed since the catastrophe occurred. A man may in an instant of anger strike his brother to the ground, and yet weep over him when he sees him bleeding at his feet; but in the case of the English Establishment, the murderous arm is followed by no pitying eye. In vain have you travelled through England seeking to obtain the sympathy and assistance of Episcopalians. The admirable and honourable Baptist Noel, and one or two others of a similar spirit, have

indeed given you their aid; but the English Church generally have been deaf to your appeals; and your chief support has been drawn from those very Dissenters whom you formerly viewed with at least coldness, but who, I trust, you will henceforward acknowledge and embrace as brethren. I do hope that you will not allow any little provocation you may receive from one or two misguided individuals, to sever those tendrils which Christian charity is putting forth to bind you to each other. If you have something to forgive, you should bear in mind that you have much to be forgiven. I have adverted to these circumstances in the history of your own Church, from the remarkable parallel which they present to those which have occurred in the experience of our own. I need scarcely inform you, that for a long period the Presbyterians of Ireland have been the zealous supporters of the Episcopal Establishment in that country-indeed, I may say, its main supporters; for had it not been for them, it would long ere this have been swept out of the island. Presbyterianism is the very prop and pillar which has upheld, and still upholds, the proud and gorgeous fabric which Prelacy has reared in that country. During the recent tithe agitation, the Presbyterians of Ireland could, with one movement of their finger, have annihilated that impost. Nay, had they remained even neutral, its continuance would have been very problematical; but they rallied almost to a man in defence of a Church which, in the moment of her peril, called herself our sister, nay, hinted at a still tenderer relation, and hailed the proclamation of a marriage, when made by one of our ministers, with ecstacy. At that moment Presbyterians afforded the Establishment her chief support. At the hustings and on the platform they were her principal defenders, and the talents of her most distinguished leaders were far more zealously devoted to her service than to that of their own communion. And what has been our reward? No sooner was the tithe agitation set at rest, than the very men who loaded us with their blandishments-who appeared the very apostles of charity-the very personifications of love,-now when the storm was over, and the danger past, became as exclusive and intolerant as ever; the Church which was addressed as a sister, and ready to be embraced as a wife, was utterly repudiated, and declared no Church at all. Those who were called brethren were branded as usurpers of an office to which they had no valid title. For a time these assaults were confined to the pulpit, the press, the platform, and private society; but the zeal of our enemies became too warm to allow of its being restrained within the limits of speculative hostility-of wordy warfare. It longed for some mode of practical attack, and one was discovered. From our first settlement in Ireland, we exercised the right of marrying our own people, when they chose to avail themselves of our services, to members of the Establishment. This was always a source of mortification to the ministers of that Establishment, and in repeated instances the attempt was made to strip us of this privilege by an appeal to courts of law, but always without effect. In every instance our marriages were pronounced valid; and we have a long and uninterrupted series of decisions to this effect by the most eminent judges both of England and Ireland; but still there was a hope that our liberties were assailable in this point, and the attempt was made. A longforgotten decree passed by a Popish Council in Winchester, in the reign of Edmund, about 940 years ago, was disentombed, which declared the presence and benediction of a mass-priest necessary to the proper solemnization of marriage. Nothing could turn up better suited to the purpose of our assailants. Here was an instrument for stripping us of our privileges, and that on the very ground on which they were anxious to establish of our not being in holy orders, or, in other words, not being ministers at all. On the case being brought before the Judges in Ireland, they were equally divided; but those in our favour being the junior, gave in, for the purpose of having the matter brought before the Judges in England. And, when the matter was eventually brought before the House of Lords, here again the law Lords were equally divided; the consequence of which was, that the decision of the inferior court, which was against us, remained in force, and we are now, by the law of the land, held incompetent to marry one of our own people to an Episcopalian, because not in holy orders, -because not the representatives or successors of those mass-priests, which a popish council, in the very darkest of the dark age, pronounced alone competent to solemnize marriages. It will naturally be supposed that some most extraordinary necessity

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