training that should be followed. This they hoped to do during the ensuing year; and with this view they would feel called upon to consider three important measures, bearing upon the right conduct of an efficient school system. He hoped, first of all, they would be able to mature such a scheme of elementary instruction as would secure that every child, giving a due time of attendance at our schools, would be educated in the knowledge of the gospel, and in those branches needful to fit a man for his duties as an intelligent member of society. He had been surprised, in reading, from time to time, the detailed examinations of our Assembly schools in India, to mark the wide range of subjects taught, and taught to youths of the same age as those attending our Scottish schools, and the perfect accuracy and intelligence of the answers given in each branch. He had been ashamed, when he contrasted these with examinations he had witnessed in our own schools, and with answers given by our Scottish children. Much, no doubt, of the efficiency of their mission schools was owing to the high talent, energy, and Christian devotedness of the master-minds that presided over them. And they could not expect that in each of the six hundred or thousand schools that might arise in connection with the Free Church, to secure a Duff, a Wilson, or an Anderson, as a presiding genius in each. Still he was satisfied that the efficiency of these mission schools was owing not only to the power with which the system was wrought, but to the system itself-not only to the force with which the wedge was driven in, but to the materials and structure of the wedge itself, warranting the belief, and by a well-devised scheme of elementary instruction, even the less gifted of our teachers might, by the blessing of God on their labours, be instrumental in forming a higher Christian and intellectual mind in the youth of our country. He farther hoped that the committee, in the year they were now entering upon, would be able to devise a plan for discovering and rewarding the teachers on their scheme, who distinguished themselves by the energy and success with which they pursued their professional labours. They had no Dick bequests as yet,-they had no Bell fund for this purpose at present,-though he knew not what might be preparing for them in the will of some rich Indian gentleman. In the mean time, something may and ought to be devised for marking out and rewarding devoted and successful teachers. A lever thus applied would lift their entire educational platform some steps higher. A stimulus thus given would be felt through the whole body of their teachers. He further anticipated that the Committee would, in the course of the year, be able to address itself to the preparation or selection of a series of school-books, that should go forth under the sanction of this Church, as the common vehicles of instruction in our schools, and which should link together the minds of the youth of our country from one extremity of Scotland to another, by giving to all the same pure fountain-head of knowledge from which to drink. Need he state to this Assembly the great Christian and patriotic object that might be gained by the preparation of a good school-book of Scottish history,—a book which should not be confined to the dry bones of chronology-which should aim at the formation of principle in the mind of our youth, rather than the burdening of the memory with facts that leave scarcely a trace behind in after life, which should seize upon the great ecclesiastical epochs of our country's history, and through the eminent and godly men that flourished, and by the lively exhibition of their struggles, kindle the holy fire in the bosoms of our children, that burned in their sires,-a history that would record the doings of our reforming and martyred forefathers, and in their own spirit, and which, by the blessing of God, would prepare our children for those more arduous struggles that yet await the Church of Christ in this land. Mr Lewis, after expressing his regret at the absence of the convener of the Sabbath School SubCommittee, Mr Manson, and reporting briefly on the proceedings of the committee. said, that its attention had been directed mainly to the deeply interesting subject of awakening a missionary spirit amongst the young of our Sabbath schools,-of translating each Sabbath school into a Juvenile Missionary Association. In reference even to the pecuniary result-to the amount of aid that would be rendered by the children to the missionary cause,-this object was an important one. It might surprise those not in the habit of reflecting on what their venerable father, Dr Chalmers, called the power of littl s, to learn that, during last year, the children of the

Sabbath schools of Scotland raised upwards of L.500 for the Orphan Refuge in India, and this independent of contributions made by them to our own and other missionary schemes. But the mere pecuniary benefit was eclipsed in the higher consideration of the formation of spiritual character that would result from the infusion of a missionary spirit into the hearts of their children. They had all observed the irresistible attraction to children of the missionary theme, when illustrated by the missionary anecdote, by the missionary tale of the struggles, and conflict, and sufferings of the young convert from heathenism, and by the narrative of the dark superstitions and horrid festivals and rites of idolatry. They had all witnessed the breathless silence, and awakened curiosity, and deep emotion, with which children listened to such tidings, and the uneffaceable impression they made on their hearts. If they hoped to realize the character of a missionary Church, and so train our people that they should not only walk with, but live for God, it would be by beginning thus at the beginning, it would be by infusing, with the first breath of spiritual life, into our children, the missionary spirit, and, from the daybreak of their Christian beings, refining their hearts, and delivering them from the dross of spiritual selfishness. He was happy to inform the Assembly that five ministers of our Church, eminently fitted for the duty, were willing to give four weeks during the summer months to the great and good work of aiding in planting Sabbath schools in connection with those congregations and districts of the country where they did not already exist, and especially to address the children of Scotland on the subject of missions, and connect missionary associations with their several schools. For this he hoped they would receive the full sanction of this house, and go forth with its authority.

The MODERATOR then addressed Mr Lewis.-I feel it a most grateful office to convey to you the thanks of the Assembly, for your zealous, judicious, and successful labours in the cause of our Church, in the department of elementary education; and particularly for the admirable report you have read. There is certainly no branch of duty more important than the religious education of the young, whether we contemplate that education as carried on in the family or in the school; and there is none more closely associated, indeed identified, with the present usefulness of our Church, or with its prospects of continued and growing prosperity. It is of greatest moment that the children of parents connected with our Free Church should be trained up under her wing, and taught to look up to her as the instructor and guide of their youth. I mean not that their minds are to be occupied with questions of Church government, or with the points of difference between us and other bodies of Christians. These subjects would be out of place, and, indeed, unintelligible, at their time of life. But we wish to have them protected from mistaken views and injurious prejudices,-to have them instructed in the simple life-giving truths of the Word of God,-and, with the view of securing this as far as in our power, to have them taught by men of sound principles and vital godliness, approved by the ministers and elders of our Church, and subject to their supervision and control. Teachers such as we wish for we cannot create; but we must use our best endeavours to find them out, and, by model schools, and other means, to prepare them for their work, and help them in it. And already we are furnished with a considerable number of such men, who, from conscientious adherence to the principles for which we contend, have suffered the loss of their schools, dwelling-houses, and salaries, and cast in their lot with a suffering, and, in many parts of the land, a persecuted community. The fact that more than one hundred teachers have already been taken under the auspices of the Free Church, with fixed salaries from her funds, while many applications have been made for a far greater number,—this fact cannot fail to interest the sympathies of all who are aware of the privations to which these honourable men have been subjected. It is a fact which, to the obligation of an important paramount duty, superadds the motives to liberality that are derived from many affecting cases of severe individual privation and urgent distress. We congratulate you, Sir, on the success that has already attended your endeavours. We have the greatest confidence in your judgment, zeal, and diligence. And thanking you affectionately for your past labours, we wish you much success and gratification in those that may still await you. We serve a liberal Master, who accepts and approves our

bumble endeavours for the diffusion of His truth and the good of our fellows. May wisdom see her children multiplied; may the good Shepherd behold many accessions to His flock from among the youth of our land, and those especially that fall under your more immediate care.

THE FIVE HUNDRED SCHOOLS.

Rev. Mr McDONALD of Blairgowrie, on rising to make his report, was received with the hearty acclamations of the house. Before saying any thing as to the success of the School-Building Scheme, he proposed to state very shortly the nature of the scheme, for the sake of any friends who were not present at last Assembly. It was proposed, he continued, to erect five hundred schools, allowing the sum of L. 100 in aid of each; and to do this, the sum of L.50,000 would be required. I made a proposal to raise this in the following way :-If we could get 500 persons to give Is. to each school, this would produce L. 12,500; if we could get 1000 more to give 6d. to each, this would produce another L. 12,500; 2000 more at 3d. each, would produce another L. 12,500; and, lastly, 6000 more giving 1d each would produce another L. 12,500. So we just required to each school 500 shillings, 1000 sixpences, 2000 threepences and 6000 pennies,-or 9500 persons in all to contribute in the above rates, and thus we would get L.50,000. I then said, and I say it again, that, as for myself, I should really be ashamed of my native country, and should blush for the Free Church of Scotland, of which I am privileged to be a minister,-if we could not find the warm-hearted friends of Christian education ready to subscribe at the above rates. I never had a doubt of it. There were to be conditions. And, first, no part of the subscription was to be taken up until and unless the whole L.50,000 was subscribed. Then, second, the money was to be taken up in instalments as the schools were built or building, but each individual was to have it in his power to spread his subscription over the space of five years. And, third, in the event of a surplus fund accruing, it was to be at the disposal of the Educational Committee, either to aid in building more schools, or in the erection of a college. Such was the scheme I had the honour to propose some months ago, at the Glasgow General Assembly, and which I have been privileged to plead through the length and breadth of the land; and I rejoice to say, that I at all times met with the most cordial reception wherever I went. Of course, as but a short time has elapsed between the two Assemblies, it has been out of my power to visit all parts of Scotland. There are a great many places unvisited, such as Dumfries shire, Galloway, and Argyleshire, Nairn, Forres, and a multitude of other small parishes in Scotland; yet I rejoice to say that the whole of the original sum proposed, large though it was, has been most cordially subscribed. It is impossible to give an exact statement of how the matter stands, owing to some reports not having come in exactly; but that I can certainly state this much, that the contributions are above L.50,000,-I believe upwards of L.52,000. Now, it must be evident that such a subscription as this would be accounted large at any time, in any circumstances, for any object, or subscribed by any body of individuals; but when it is borne in mind that this sum,-except only about L.3000 subscribed in England, and that, too, mainly by Scottish Presbyterians there,-has been subscribed by those very people who have already subscribed with such unbounded liberality for the building of their churches, sustaining the ministry, and spreading the gospel among Jew or Gentile, then it becomes a sum peculiarly large indeed. And I rejoice to say, that not only have the friends of Christian education in Scotland given thus largely, but they have given as cheerfully as largely. I never witnessed such cheerful giving in my life; and I rejoice especially at this, for we have the very highest authority to know that " God loveth a cheerful giver." It has been publicly stated that the people give thus cheerfully because they give unintelligibly,-because they do not understand what they are about; and I have been publicly accused by some of the newspapers hostile to our cause, of being guilty of a "pious fraud," and getting all these subscriptions by some sort of arithmetical legerdemain. Sir, apart altogether from the assurance that such a method would bring only certain ruin to all my efforts,—and I am sure that my fathers and brethren assembled here will believe me when I say that I could bear no part in any such specious deception,—any such

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pious fraud,"-apart, therefore, from that consideration, I appeal to all my fathers and brethren who have been present at any of those meetings, to say whether I did not always state distinctly, besides that L.50,000 would be required in all, what each subscription would come to in one year,-that a subscription of Is. to each of the 500 schools would come to L.5 each year in the five,-that the same at 6d. would be L.2, 10s. each year,—that the same at 3d. would be L. 1, 5s. each year,—and that a subscription of Id. would be 8s. 4d. each year. I always took care to state this distinctly, so that there might be no deception, and that all might fully and clearly know what was to be done. It was quite possible for mistakes to occur. I believe some did occur, but they were comparatively few, and discovered next day, and corrected; and before the report was sent in, all such corrections were made. Therefore, instead of thinking that our friends in Scotland gave cheerfully because they gave ignorantly, I believe the case was the very reverse. I believe they gave cheerfully, because they gave knowingly, and knew what they were doing,-because they saw what a mighty national and permanent blessing these 500 schools would be to Scotland. Now, Moderator, it may not be out of place at this time, briefly to notice some of the striking lessons such a result as this is so well fitted to teach us. First of all, it shows us the truth of that blessed promise of our Lord, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." When I first proposed this scheme, many of my friends looked on me somewhat as a well-meaning enthusiast, carried away by more zeal than knowledge, they believing that the schools, though desirable, were not at all attainable; and they therefore pronounced that the whole thing would prove a failure. Now, had I only looked to second causes,—had I looked only at my own ability to accom plish this great scheme,-I would never have ventured to raise L. 50,000 within six months. But I looked to what I knew to be the promise of God, and allowed no doubts to stand in the way. I put them all aside, and was led to "open my mouth wide." I asked other Christians, wherever I met them, to do the same,-to ask the whole sum from that God who has said, "the silver is mine, and the gold is mine," and in whose hands are the hearts of all the stewards of that money. And He has been faithful. I feel this result is just a fulfilment of his promise; and I trust the faithfulness of it will be proved not only in this case, but for ever to the Free Church of Scotland. We have begun well, for in every thing we have been always opening our mouths wide,-amidst all our difficulties and all our trials we have been attempting great things; and I take these to be omens that God is with us. There is another question connected with this, and it is, the proof of those sweet words of our Lord, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." it has been too long the practice with many among the people of God to reverse that maxim, and to act as if it were more blessed to get than to give, to keep than to restore. It was too long the case with us. Never was there a year in which our Scottish Christians gave so much to the cause of Christ,-never was there a year when these words of the Lord Jesus were put so greatly to the test; and I feel assured that to Christians giving largely it has been one of the most blessed years of their life, that they have felt more peace and blessedness in giving largely away, than they ever enjoyed in the possession of all. I am sure I may say this for my fathers and brethren. We have heard it publicly stated that there are many of our country brethren lamenting sadly that they gave so much when they gave up their all for Christ, and even that there is a large number anxious to return to the blessedness of keeping all, if they could only find a door open to receive them. Now, it has happened that I have been privileged to see more of them than any one in this Assembly, and in no time of excitement, or when we are all assembled here, and feel cheered and supported in each other's society, but in the retirement of their own homes; and I feel bound to say, that I have seen them happier than I ever saw them before, and, so far from repenting that step, they never felt more satisfied that it was the step pointed out to them by God, and instead of longing to retrace it, they now feel thankful to God for giving them grace to take it. They therefore feel the truth of the words, " It is more blessed to give than to receive." And if ministers can testify to that truth, I believe that our people can do the same. I know, at least, this is the case with my people in Blairgowrie, for they feel more

Ah!

peace and contentedness than they ever had when they kept all to themselves. And will our people be the poorer for what they have done? No; not one of them can be poorer, if he only gave with a willing heart, looking up to God, while such promises are recorded as these :-" He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord; and that which he bath given will be pay him again."-" Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again." There is another lesson to be learned from this. We are taught to rely on the faithfulness of God in the assurance,-" Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you." Again, there is the assurance,-" For your Father knoweth ye have need of all these things." So when we sought for schools and churches for the service of God, I never bad a doubt that the means would be furnished. And I trust that the day will never come, that any minister or elder of this Church will put their own things before God's things. Then I would tremble for the Sustentation Fund; then I would feel that there was a want of faith in the promises of God; but while we remain a spiritual Church, minding first His kingdom,-His house,-He never will allow them to feel want; for if they sought the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all other things would be added. I may just mention, that some of my friends, out of great kindness, seeing the great fatigue I was experiencing, asked why I did not give my statement on the Education Scheme, without at the same time preaching? My reason was this. In the first place, I could not, in my conscience, allow myself to go away so long from the great work of the ministry, in support of any scheme whatever, without doing something to win souls. And although it was considerable additional labour to me, still I do not regret it; for I find that we must be instant in season and out of season, and, by God's grace, might be the means of winning souls to Christ. But I had another reason. I believe, for the success of my scheme this is essential,-for the gospel, known, felt, and recognized, is, after all, the greatest and most effectual key to the human heart. It is the grand instrument for opening the heart, and when the heart is once opened, the hand is opened also. It will be seen that the scheme was now finished, and that we are preparing to draw the first instalment, for which purpose a person has been appointed. The principle of the scheme was, that the collecting of the fund was delayed over a period of five years. It is, however, entirely at the option of individuals to take advantage of this; and several have signified their intention of paying up all at once. If the money is kept up, or part of it, for the period of five years, part of the scheme must necessarily be delayed until that period elapse; but as it was optional whether parties should either let their subscriptions remain over that period, or pay them up all at once, I am sure the Educational Committee would be happy to receive their subscriptions just now, in order that the scheme may be completed. At the same time, it is altogether optional, and parties could pursue the course which was most convenient to themselves. In the event of any surplus remaining, it will. be placed at the disposal of the Educational Committee, who can either appropriate it to the building of more schools, or to the erection of a college in connection with the Free Church. When I first mentioned a surplus, many seemed to smile at that, but I bad from the commencement a surplus in view. I have now to state to the Assembly that I am in considerable difficulty in regard to this matter. I am asked by many people, why have you passed by our parish or our town? We are just as ready to contribute to your scheme as others are, and why have you passed by us? Now, I have been labouring night and day in this work for the last six months, but I could not possibly visit more places than I have done, and my only difficulty is now, how are we to please those friends whom I have been prevented from visiting? The Committee have resolved on obviating the difficulty by complying with their request, and that I should pay them a visit. I thought that, having been so long taken away from my own dear people at Blairgowrie, that some other persons might be got for that purpose, but I have got such a character as a beggar, that the Committee would not part with me. I therefore agreed, on condition that my pulpit at Blairgowrie should be supplied during my absence by the best men in the Church; and I