Free Church of Scotland. SITES. FEBRUARY 1848. EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY JOHN GREIG, LAWNMARKET. MDCCCXLVIII. NOTES FROM THE CORRESPONDENCE between the SITE COMMITTEE of the FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, and the Ministers and others in those places where Sites are still refused. The order is according to the list furnished by Mr Speirs to the Select Committee of the House of Commons, on 22d March 1847. See p. 6 of Minutes of Evidence. THE Committee of the House of Commons reported 5th July 1847. A circular was sent out (20th August 1847) from the Free Church Site Committee, recommending application for Sites to be renewed by the Kirk-Sessions or Presbyteries of the bounds. CANOBIE (Dumfriesshire). On October 1847, application was made to the Duke of Buccleuch by petition from the Deacons' Court, and forwarded to His Grace by the Rev. Mr Smith of Half Morton, as Moderator of the Kirk-Session, in the absence of Mr Innes. The petition was in the following terms :— To His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, the Peti- Humbly Sheweth, That your petitioners, and the Congregation of which they are officebearers, have for a long period suffered great inconvenience from the want of a church where they may worship God in peace and comfort according to the dictates of conscience. That your petitioners are most unwilling to ask what your Grace may feel reluctant to grant; but they are induced again to present a petition for a site, partly because of the hardships endured by the Congregation, partly because the Commission of the General Assembly has enjoined such applications to be made by all Congregations in such circumstances, and partly because your petitioners cannot but entertain the hope that your Grace may now see fit to grant them the accommodation which they are so anxious to obtain. That your petitioners assure your Grace that neither they nor any of the Congregation either now desire, or, so far as they know, ever have desired to erect their church in close proximity to the church of the Establishment, but the contrary; as they would all greatly prefer a site at a distance from the Parish Church, if it were in any measure convenient for the Congregation: That your petitioners do not think it necessary to trouble your Grace with any new statement of their circumstances, as they believe these are to a considerable extent known to your Grace; and they respectfully invite the fullest inquiry into the facts of their case. That the only thing which they would venture to add to their former representations, is that the health of their esteemed minister has been greatly impaired, partly, as they conscientiously believe, in consequence of exposure from the want of a church; so that he has been absent from them for upwards of three months, and that this circumstance is at present a subject of deep anxiety to the Congregation, Your petitioners know not how to express their earnest desire and hope that your Grace would now grant the request of your tenantry and dependants, who, they are well assured, cherish feelings of respect and affection for your Grace's person and family, and who would be the farthest possible from doing or saying anything to give your Grace intentional offence, but whose simple object is to enjoy in comfort and quietness the privileges of the gospel. Your petitioners, therefore, humbly trust that your Grace will take their case into your favourable consideration, and consent to dispose of a site for a church in such a suitable locality, and on such terms as may seem to your Grace to be proper and reasonable. And your petitioners will ever pray. No answer has been received. The following letter, from the Free Presbytery of Lockerby, was addressed to his Grace, after the death of the Rev. Mr Innes. ECCLEFECHAN, December 24. 1847. MY LORD DUKE,-As the Moderator of the Free Presbytery of Lockerby, I have been instructed to bring the case of the Free Church Congregation of Canobie again under your Grace's notice. The Presbytery believe that the circumstances of this congregation are known to your Grace, and, therefore, it is not necessary to state them at length. It may be proper merely to remind your Grace, that during four years they have met for public worship without adequate protection from the inclemency of the weather; having for some time worshipped on the public road, and latterly under the frail shelter of a canvass tent. The Presbytery, however, can not but advert to the solemn event which has recently occurred in connection with this Congregation, viz., the death of their pastor, the Rev. George Innes, whose last illness was attributed by himself and by many others, to exposure to cold in the uncomfortable place of worship in which he conducted divine service in Canobie. The Presbytery are well aware, from their own knowledge, that the health of their late lamented brother suffered severely from the peculiar hardships which he had to encounter in his trying position, and while desirous of speaking with all caution upon such a subject, they are unanimously of opinion, that his death was hastened by the cause just mentioned. In these circumstances, the Presbytery feel it to be their duty again to bring this matter before your Grace, and it is with this view that I have been instructed to make this communication. It gives us great pleasure to bear our testimony to the character and conduct of the Free Church Congregation of Canobie, and we beg to express our earnest hope, that your Grace will now consent to grant them, for its full value, a site for a church, where they may worship God in comfort and tranquillity, and without the risk of a like fate to the successor of Mr Innes. We trust also, that as the congregation of Canobie are within the bounds and under the spiritual superintendence of this Presbytery, the present application will not be deemed obtrusive or unwarrantable. I have the honour to be, your Grace's most obedient servant, His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry. No answer has been received. WANLOCKHEAD (Dumfriesshire). On September 1847, a Petition was presented by the Kirksession. It was as follows: Unto his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, the Humble Petition of the undersigned individuals, Members of the Free Church Session of Wanlockhead: May it please your Grace. We, the undersigned, again crave leave, with the highest respect, to lay before your Grace the state of the congregation of this place, with which we are connected. We feel very reluctant to trouble your Grace farther in this matter, and, in ordinary circumstances, would have submissively acquiesced in the answers previously given by your Grace, and patiently waited for any favourable change which might have taken place. We beg to assure your Grace, however, that we, in common with all the members and adherents of the Congregation here, are placed in very peculiar circumstances; as we cannot, without a sacrifice of principle, relinquish our position, return to the bosom of the Established Church, and avail ourselves of the means of religious instruction so liberally supplied by your Grace to the other inhabitants of this place; in regard to whom we herish, and would ever seek to manifest, a kindly and Chris |