Presbytery of Deer, Mr Alexander Urquhart at Old Deer, Mr Alexander Cobban at Rathen, Mr James Murdoch at Rosehearty, Ministers;--Mr Alexander D. Fordyce of Culsh and Brucklay, Mr Hugh Handyside, W.S., Edinburgh, Mr William Cruickshank, teacher in Fraserburgh, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Turriff, Mr William Leslie at Macduff, Mr John Matheson at Forgue, Mr James Sutherland at Turriff, Ministers ;—Mr George Lyon of Glenogil, Mr Neil Smith jun., merchant in Aberdeen, Mr George Harper, farmer at Couland Mill, Forgue, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Fordyce, Mr Francis W. Grant at Banff, Mr Robert Shanks at Buckie, Mr Robert Trail at Boindie, Ministers ;-Mr Thomas White of Glenesslin, Mr John Macdonald, accountant, Edinburgh, Mr James Bonar, W.S., Edinburgh, Ruling Elders. SYNOD OF MORAY. Presbytery of Strathbogie, Mr William Moffat at Cairnie, Mr William Mackray at Huntly, Mr John Murdoch at Grange, Ministers ;-Mr Allan Fullarton, Greenock, Mr John Parker, George Square, Edinburgh, Mr Alexander Paterson, farmer, Boharm, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Abernethy, Mr George Shepherd at Kingussie, Mr Alexander Tulloch at Kirkmichael, Ministers ;-Dr William Henderson, Lecturer on Materia Medica, Marischal College, Aberdeen, Mr James Craig, merchant, Woodville, Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Aberlour, Mr Patrick Tulloch at Inveravon, Mr Alexander Rhind at Knockando, Ministers ;-Mr David Maitland Makgill Crichton of Rankeilour, Mr John Johnstone, publisher, Edinburgh, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Elgin, Mr Alexander Gentle at Alves, Mr John Allan at Garmouth, Mr David N. Mackay at Lossiemouth, Ministers ;-Mr Archibald Bonar of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Bank, Edinburgh, Mr Isaac Forsyth, Elgin, Mr John M'Kinnie, Elgin, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Forres, Mr Mark Aitken at Dyke, Mr Donald MacDonald at Edinkillie, Ministers;--Mr Henry Tod, W.S., Edinburgh, Mr John Hamilton, advocate, Edinburgh, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Inverness, Mr Joseph Thorburn at Inverness, Mr Alexander Fraser at Kirkhill, Mr Thomas MacLauchlan at Stratherrick, Ministers;-Mr George France, farmer, Wester Lovat, Mr John Mackay, merchant, Inverness, Mr Duncan M‘Kenzie, slater, Inverness, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Nairn, Mr Simon Fraser M'Lauchlan at Cawdor, Mr John Matheson at Arderseir, Ministers ;-Mr James Campbell Brodie of Lethen, Mr John Clerk Brodie, W.S., Edinburgh, Ruling Elders. SYNOD OF ROSS. Presbytery of Chanonry, Mr John M'Rae at Knockbain, Mr Donald Kennedy at Redcastle, Ministers ;—Mr Maurice Lothian, S.S.C., Edinburgh, Ruling Elder. Presbytery of Dingwall, Mr James Macdonald at Urray, Mr John Kennedy at Dingwall, Mr Alexander Flyter at Alness, Ministers ;-Dr John Taylor, Edinburgh, Mr William Wilson, Queen Street, Glasgow, Mr John M'Indoe, Brown Street, Glasgow, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Tain, Mr Charles Calder Macintosh at Tain, Mr David Campbell at Tarbat, Mr Hugh M'Leod at Logie Easter, Ministers ;-Mr Andrew Chisholm, farmer at Bindal, Mr James Ross, druggist, Tain, Mr Donald Williamson, writer, Tain, Ruling Elders. SYNOD OF SUTHERLAND AND CAITHNESS. Presbytery of Dornoch, Mr John M'Donald at Helmsdale, Mr John D. Kennedy at Rosehall, Mr Charles Gordon at Assynt, Ministers-Mr Patrick Tennent, W.S., Edinburgh, Mr Robert Paul, banker, Edinburgh, Mr Hugh Macpherson, clothier, Glasgow, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Tongue, Mr George Tulloch at Eddrachillis, Mr George Mackay at Tongue, Ministers ;--Mr James Bridges, W.S., Edinburgh, Dr James Russell, Lynedoch Place, Edinburgh, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Caithness, Mr Walter Ross Taylor at Thurso, Mr Alexander Gunn at Watten, Mr Samuel Campbell at Berriedale, Mr Robert Rose Mackay at Westerdale, Ministers ;-Mr Robert Johnston jun., W.S., Edinburgh, Professor William Henderson, M.D., Edinburgh, Dr John Moir, Edinburgh, Mr Robert de la Condamine, Leith, Ruling Elders. SYNOD OF GLENELG. Presbytery of Lochcarron, Mr Duncan Matheson at Gairloch, Mr George M'Leod at Lochbroom, Ministers ;-Mr Alexander Dunlop, advocate, Edinburgh, Mr Francis Brown Douglas, advocate, Edinburgh, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Abertarf, Mr Francis MacBean at Fort Augustus, Mr John MacTavish at Ballachulish, Ministers;--Mr John Macdonald, merchant, Fort William, Mr James Wyld of Gilston, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Skye and Uist, Mr Norman M'Leod at Trumisgarry, Mr Roderick SYNOD OF ORKNEY. Presbytery of Orkney, Mr Peter Learmonth at Stromness, Mr William Sinclair at Kirkwall, Mr John Garson at Birsay, Mr William S. Login at Papa Westray, Ministers-Dr Robert Omond, physician, Edinburgh, Mr Charles Cowan of Valleyfield, Mr James Howden, jeweller, Edinburgh, Mr Robert Brotchie, merchant, Leith, Ruling Elders. SYNOD OF SHETLAND. Presbytery of Shetland, Mr John Elder at Walls, Mr Daniel Fraser at Lerwick, Mr George Turnbull at Conningsburgh, Ministers ;-Mr William C. Gardiner, merchant, Edinburgh, Mr James Moncrieff, advocate, Edinburgh, Mr Adam White, Union Bank, Edinburgh, Ruling Elders. SYNOD OF LOTHIAN AND TWEEDDALE. Presbytery of Edinburgh, Mr John Bruce, St Andrew's, Edinburgh, Mr Walter Fairlie, Gilmerton, Mr Francis Gillies, St Stephen's, Edinburgh, Dr Patrick Clason, Buccleuch, do., Dr Robert S. Candlish, St George's do., Mr William K. Tweedie, Tolbooth, do., Mr James Begg, Newington and Liberton, Mr Alexander Moody Stuart, St Luke's, Edinburgh, Ministers;-Dr Alexander Macaulay, Edinburgh, Mr Alexander Campbell of Monzie, Mr James Wilson, Woodville, Mr James S. Duncan, Edinburgh, Mr James Miller, Professor of Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, Mr Alexander Reid, Rector of the Circus Place School, Edinburgh, Mr Thomas Hay, Leith, Mr Alexander Earle Monteith, Sheriff of the County of Fife, Ruling Elders. Theological Faculty, Dr William Cunningham, Professor of Divinity and Church, History, Dr Alexander Black, Professor of Exegetical Theology, both in the New College. Presbytery of Linlithgow, Mr Samuel Martin at Bathgate, Mr John Cochrane at Grangemouth, Mr Alexander P. Dempster at Borrowstonness, Ministers; Mr James M. Hog of Newliston, Mr Thomas C. Burns of Avondale, Mr James Allan, farmer, Clifton, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Biggar and Peebles, Mr William Wallace Duncan at Peebles, Mr Edward Patteson at Ellsridgehill, Mr John Montgomery, Innerleithen, Ministers; Mr James Murray of Craigend, Mr Hugh Turnbull, Peebles, Mr Robert Welsh of Mossfennan, Ruling Elders. Presytery of Dalkeith, Mr Archibald Lorimer at Cockenzie, Mr John Macfarlane at Dalkeith, Mr James Duncan at Temple and Carrington, Ministers;-Mr Hew Francis Cadell of Cockenzie, Mr Robert Kilpatrick, farmer at Coates, Mr Thomas Steven, builder at Bonnyrigg, Cockpen, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Haddington and Dunbar, Mr John Wallace Wright at Haddington, Mr James Dodds at Belhaven, Mr Samuel Robertson at Pencaitland, Mr Andrew Wallace at Cockburnspath and Oldhamstocks, Ministers ;-Mr Simon Sawers of Newhouse, Mr George Rate, farmer at Lampochwells, Mr Charles Christie, farmer at West Bank, Mr Thomas Dods, nurseryman at Haddington, Ruling Elders. SYNOD OF MERSE AND TEVIOTDALE. Presbytery of Dunse and Chirnside, Mr Thomas Wright at Swinton, Mr James Ketchan at Mordington, Mr Adam Spence at Houndwood, Ministers ;-Mr John Wilson, farmer, Eddington-Mains, Berwickshire, Mr James Cunningham, writer, Dunse, Mr William Brown, surgeon, Edinburgh, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Kelso and Lauder, Mr Horatius Bonar at Kelso, Mr Thomas Waters at Lauder, Mr Andrew Cunningham at Eccles, Ministers ;-Mr Frederick L. Roy of Nenthorn, Mr John Henderson, merchant, Kelso, Andrew P. Johnston, builder, Sprouston, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Jedburgh, Mr T. S. Anderson at Crailing, Mr John Purves at Jedburgh, Ministers;-Mr John Elliot, Jedburgh, Mr Thomas Walker, Hawick, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Selkirk, Mr Thomas Jolly at Bowden, Mr John Duncan at St Boswell's, Mr William Sorley at Selkirk, Ministers ;-Mr John Sibbald, manufacturer at Galashiels, Mr James Montgomery Penman, farmer at Fens, Mr James Mitchell, farmer at Philiphaugh, Ruling Elders. SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. Presbytery of Lockerby, Mr James Mackenzie at Annan, Mr John Mathison at Ecclefechan, Mr George Hastie at Kirkpatrick-Fleming, Ministers; Mr Andrew Johnstone of Halleaths, Mr George Irving, farmer, Middlebie Town, Mr George Bell, Leith, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Dumfries, Mr Robert Brydon at Dunscore, Mr William Andson at Kirkmahoe, Mr Alexander Grierson at Irongray, Ministers ;-Mr George Henderson of Nunholm, Mr William Milligan, hosier, Dumfries, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Penpont, Mr William Logan at Sanquhar, Mr Thomas Hastings at Wanlockhead, Ministers;-Mr William Stothert of Cargen, Sir James Forrest, Bart. of Comiston, Ruling Elders. SYNOD OF GALLOWAY. Presbytery of Stranraer, Mr Robert Donald at Sheuchan, Mr Peter Ferguson at Inch, Mr Archibald Little M'Cririe at Cairnryan, Ministers ;-Major-General Robert M'Douall, C.B., Park House, Mr John Martin, farmer, Smiddyhill, Mr James Watson, grain-dealer, Drumore, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Wigton, Mr James Falconer at Wigtown, Mr Frederick F. Anderson at Whithorn and Isle, Ministers ;-Mr John Fletcher Macfarlane, chemist and druggist, Edinburgh, Mr David Guthrie, writer, Stranraer, Ruling Elders. Presbytery of Kirkcudbright, Mr John M'Millan at Kirkcudbright, Mr George Brown at Castle Douglas, Mr John Haining at Glenkens, Ministers ;-Mr James Tod, W.S., Edinburgh, Mr William Poole, Borgue, Mr James Canan, merchant, Kirkcudbright, Ruling Elders. CHURCH IN INDIA. Presbytery of Calcutta, Dr Alexander Duff, minister and missionary at Calcutta, Minister;-Mr Simon Nicolson, of the Hon. East India Company's Medical Service, at Calcutta, Ruling Elder. Presbytery of Madras, Mr John Braidwood, minister and missionary at Madras, Minister;-Mr A. F. Bruce, Ruling Elder. PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. THURSDAY, MAY 20. 1847. Sermon by Rev. Dr R. J. Brown, Moderator of last Assembly-Assembly constituted by prayerNames of Commissioners read-Dr James Sieveright of Markinch chosen Moderator-His Address-Committees named. THE General Assembly met in their Hall at Canonmills on Thursday. The Rev. Dr Brown of Aberdeen, late Moderator, delivered a discourse from Philippians, ii. 9-11. After sermon, the Assembly was constituted by prayer, and the roll of members having been read by the Clerk, Dr BROWN said,-Fathers and brethren, the time is now come when I must retire from the chair in which, by your favour, I was placed, and propose to you, according to the usual custom, my successor. I beg leave, therefore, to propose as Moderator of this Assembly the Rev. Dr Sieveright of Markinch,-a brother who is known to you all, I doubt not, for his eminent piety and devotedness to the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the efficiency with which he discharges his pastoral duties, and the blessing which has accompanied his labours,—and for his learning; and who, by his long experience, is especially qualified for the discharge of those duties to which I now propose that you should call him. (Hear, hear.) This proposal having been unanimously agreed to, Dr Sieveright was introduced, and his election announced to him by Dr Brown, who, congratulating him on his appointment, said,—It is my earnest wish and prayer that the great Head of the Church may vouchsafe to you direction and strength in the discharge of your duties. The MODERATOR then addressed the Assembly as follows: : Brethren, and Fellow-servants in Christ,-In taking the place to which your kindness calls me at the opening of a new session of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, I cannot refrain from addressing you in language expressive of thanks for the honour conferred on me; and, at the same time, expressive of my own sense of inadequacy to fulfil its duties aright. Of the honour of occupying this chair I shall not further speak, being sensible that its estimation greatly depends on what is brought to it, in which respect I confess my pretensions to be slender, and my incompetency great,so great and obvious, indeed, that I shall do well to strive to forget it, lest a besetting consciousness should impede an unembarrassed exercise of the few requisites I may possibly possess for so distinguished a place,—for distinguished it is, from the relation it stands in to such an Assembly. And now, brethren, suffer me to congratulate you on the recurrence of an annual reunion, which, from the first modelling of the Presbyterian platform, has constituted a distinguished feature of its scriptural polity. The want of a supreme judicatory, a deliberative court of review like this, in some other ecclesiastical bodies, has tended to arrest improvement, and stereotype such errors and defects as happened to be embodied with their several systems at their first setting up. For if a changeless permanency possess some advantages, or even many and valuable ones, the want of flexture and accommodation A to the state of the Church, the progress of society, and the movements of Providence, has proved seriously detrimental to the right ordering and efficiency of a Church. Among ourselves, the General Assembly had lost much of its ancient authority, because that authority had been wasted on worthless objects-until a period an eventful period-within the recollection of all, when the expansive force of truth put an energy of religious principle which burst our fetters, and freed us besides from a pressure of wood, hay, stubble, and the like, which, though singly without weight, had become, by the accummulation of years, intolerable. Thus disengaged from encumbrances which had been too long endured by the right-minded, the General Assembly of the Church resumed its ancient spirit, and speedily recovered the respect and confidence of a Christian community, who recognised in this Court an assembly of Christian men, who had borne reproach, and suffered the spoiling of their goods for the sake of truth. The Court was now free to assert an inherent competency, as constituted under its adorable Head, to take cognizance of and manage its spiritual affairs, though in the absence of a royal representative, and without the borrowed lights of a secular court, whose forensic skill, mercenary to either side of a question, was more likely to perplex what was clear, by dialectic ingenuity, than to clear the perplexed by honest argument. (Hear, hear.) The composition and character of the court having undergone so great a change, both the business and the mode of conducting it underwent a corresponding alteration. Its members were intent on higher things, and were careful to have reported to them the progress of religion at home and abroad, suggesting methods and means for its advancement, and bringing under review the doings of men, and the manifestations of God in the various dispensations of his providence and grace to man. These high and important subjects had entered sparingly, if at all, into the business of the house a few years bygone; and he must have been a bold man that ventured in those days to broach the Church's duty to evangelise the heathen. No; missions and missionaries were alike distasteful; and in place of advocating the propagation of the gospel among idolators in distant lands, a succession of battles had to be fought ere the erection of a chapel of ease could be achieved at home. (Hear, hear.) But, in the new order of things, a local Christianity did not exclusively engross the Church, impressed with the conviction, that wide as the world is Christ's command to preach the gospel. This we now practically own, but we need to bear in mind, that to fulfil our high functions, and moreover sustain the Church's comparatively high position in sight of the Christian world, requires much vigilance, spirituality, and devotion,-requires the collective wisdom of all to meet the important questions that come annually under review; and let every one without reserve bring his modicum of wisdom and grace with a manly freedom-holding his opinions, though firmly, with a hallowed candour and moderation. (Hear, hear.) Diversities of opinion are perhaps unavoidable, unequal as men are in knowledge, information, and experience; but alienated affections need not result from differences of opinion; and hence, while holding our own convictions, we can respect the convictions of a brother, and keep our minds open on their appearance to admit "whatsoever things are true," by whomsoever suggested, or however much opposed to preconceived opinions and plans. (Hear.) It is magnanimous to rejoice in the gifts of those that excel us, and wise to avail ourselves of their superior endowments in the conduct of affairs; but in the sight of heaven and earth, a modest unassuming mediocrity is, we believe, incomparably more estimable than the possession and pride of an unequalled superiority, which, Diotrephes-like, "loves to have the pre-eminence;" or like Haman, exacts a silent obsequiousness as the passport to its favour. (Hear, hear.) Such an abuse of gifts we have no reason to apprehend in this Assembly, whose floor is not meant to be an arena of debate for the contentious and vain-glorious, to whom victory, or the humbling an opponent, is more than the establishment of truth. Blessed be God, who giveth gifts unto men, He hath raised up among us, when most needed, men competent to vindicate truth, and capable of guiding others to sound conclusions concerning it; and the gifts of God in them are to be much regarded. But should we be so dazzled by the corruscations of brilliant intellect, as to forget our need of other light, and should we in our emergencies cease to repair to the "Wonderful Counsellor" for direction, no marvel if we be left to follow infatuate courses. (Hear, hear.) Wherefore, with the Word of God in one hand, and in the other our publicly recognised Standards, so richly furnished with unalterable truth, incessantly looking up withal with suppliant eyes to our Heavenly |