held at Arbroath on the first Tuesday of April next; the members to be specially summoned to it.

Coldstream and Berwick.-The presbytery met on January 2. The sudden death of the Rev. David Paterson of Alnwick having been intimated to them, his name was taken from the roll of presbytery. They afterwards entered on the consideration of a complaint made by the Rev. Henry Renton of Kelso, against a deed of presbytery respecting his objections to Mr Pearson's ordination, on the ground of Mr Pearson having stated and defended, in one of his trial discourses, the doctrine of universal atonement. Mr Renton was heard in support of his complaint; but the presbytery not regarding it well founded, refused to reverse the deed complained of. Mr Renton protested and appealed to the Synod against this decision.

Cupar. This presbytery met at Cupar on Tuesday, 2d January,—Mr Gray of Freuchie, Moderator. Read a communication from the Rev. James Ronaldson, late of Auchmacoy, admitting that he had ceased to attend public ordinances in connexion with the United Secession Church, and assigning reasons for his conduct in this matter; when it was moved and agreed to, that the presbytery approve of the spirit and tone of Mr Ronaldson's letter, regret to learn that he finds difficulties in the way of his remaining in connexion with the United Secession Church, and appoint a committee to hold a friendly conference with him on that subject, and report at next meeting, said committee to consist of Dr Taylor and Mr Stevenson, Auchtermuchty. [It may be necessary to state in explanation here, that at the preceding meeting of presbytery, the clerk was instructed to write to Mr Ronaldson, in consequence of a fama, that he had ceased to attend public ordinances in connexion with the Secession Church, while he retained his status as an ordained minister in connexion with that body.] It was then moved and agreed to, that the presbytery of Cupar overture the Synod, to take steps for consummating the union between the Relief and Secession Churches. During the discussion on this subject, Mr Scott of Leslie used language regarded as injurious to the character of the ministers of the Secession Church; and being interrogated whether he was prepared to say, that, in using such language, he meant no reflection on the honesty of the ministers of the Secession Church, he replied, "that he would say no such thing." It was then moved and unanimously agreed to, that Mr Scott be called upon to retract this language, and after long and painful dealing with him, a retraction was wrung from him, on which it was moved and unanimously agreed to, that he be admonished from the Chair. Mr Scott refused to submit to the authority of the court, was found guilty of contumacy, and suspended from the office of the ministry; on which he protested, and appealed to the Synod, and craved extracts. There was laid upon the table a copy of the Fife Herald newspaper, of 28th December 1843, containing an article, headed "SECESSION HERESIES," and subscribed Wm. Scott, minister, which was read. Mr Scott was asked if he was the author of this article, and if he still adhered to it, to both of which questions he replied in the affirmative. It was then moved, and unanimously agreed to, that the presbytery, regarding that article as containing incorrect and injurious statements respecting the doctrines embodied in the trial discourses of Mr Stewart, and the proceedings of the presbytery in reference to his ordination, find, that the paper will require the more serious consideration of the presbytery, and agree that it lie on the table till next meeting, and that Mr Scott be summoned apud acta, to attend. Appointed the next meeting to be held on the Tuesday after the last Sabbath of January.

Dunfermline.-The presbytery met, January 2. The Rev. Mr Gibson, moderator. Inter alia, granted supply of sermon to the congregation of Chalmers Street. Messrs John B. Johnston, and George Scott, passed

NO. II. VOL. I.

N

part of their trials for license. The committee for superintending the students reported progress. Agreed to petition parliament for the abolition of the religious test required of professors in the Scottish Universities. At the request of the Rev. Mr Wilson, appointed a committee to meet with the session, managers, and congregation of Crossgates, and inquire into the existing state of matters in that congregation, and report to the presbytery. The Rev. Mr Johnston gave notice, that at next meeting of presbytery he will move, "That the presbytery petition the Synod, at its meeting in May, to take into consideration the subject of union between the Relief and Secession churches, with the view of bringing the negotiations which have been so long carried on between the two bodies in this matter, to a speedy and favourable termination."

Edinburgh. The presbytery met January 2d. The committee appointed to submit resolutions in relation to the existence of religious tests in the Scottish Universities gave in their report, which was appointed to lie on the table for future consideration. A petition was read from the congregation of West Linton, chiefly respecting pecuniary difficulties. After consideration it was agreed to appoint a presbyterial visitation to that congregation, to be held on 8th January. A committee was appointed to prepare a memorial for transmission to different evangelical communions, on the subject of fugitives from the discipline of the one, applying for admission to another; the Rev. P. Davidson, convener. Mr Dyer delivered part of his trial discourses, in the view of ordination at North Berwick; Messrs Robert Duncan, and John Hunter, part of trials for license.

Dumfries.-On the 2d January, this presbytery licensed Mr Thomas Montgomery to preach the gospel.

Lanark. The presbytery met on January 9th, and was constituted by Rev. John Jamieson, moderator. After some preliminary matters, the clerk reported that the committee appointed at last meeting to receive the exercises of Mr Robert Russell, student in divinity, were satisfied with the exercises. A certificate was received from the presbytery of Edinburgh transferring Mr William Dickson, student in divinity, to the oversight of this court. The remainder of the sederunt was occupied in considering the affairs of Lanark congregation, and in investigating and certifying applications for assistance from the board for liquidating debt on chapels.

Aberdeen. The presbytery met at Aberdeen on January 16th. A petition was presented from the congregation of Leith-Lumsden, praying that a member of presbytery might be appointed to moderate in a call to one to be their pastor. It was unanimously agreed to grant the prayer of the petition; and the Rev. Mr Paterson of Midmar was appointed to moderate in a call among the people there, on Tuesday the 30th inst. The presbytery also unanimously made it a rule that a portion of the time of every meeting shall hereafter be spent in devotional exercises; the persons who are to conduct those exercises, to be appointed at the previous meeting.

STAMP DUTIES ON LICENSES AND CALLS.

We understand that the Wigton Secession Presbytery have transmitted to the Stamp-Office, Edinburgh, the following deliverance on the circular some time ago sent to presbytery clerks, demanding stamp-duty on occasion of the licensing of preachers, and the settlement of ministers in charges:-"As they neither receive any emolument from government, nor are recognized as a presbytery by government, so they do not conceive themselves liable to pay the stamp-duties imposed by the act of parliament cited by you." Our readers will observe that the Kirkaldy presbytery have given the same deliverance.

We are advised that the view of the law embodied in the deliverance of the Wigton presbytery is correct. In England, the operation of the statute is expressly limited to "collation by any archbishop or bishop to any ecclesiastical benefice, dignity, or promotion whatsoever." The collation here described is plainly one by a dignitary of the church of England. In Scotland, the collation on which the duty is imposed must unquestionably be held to be a collation, institution, or admission, by any presbytery, or other competent authority of the church of Scotland by law established, and in connexion with the state.

The expedient course, we should suppose, for presbytery clerks to follow, would be to reply to these circulars in the exact terms of the Wigton presbytery, or probably, better still, to let the matter drop.

ORDINATION.

The ordination of Mr William B. Robertson at Irvine, the appointment of which was reported last November, took place on 26th December. The solemn services of the day made a deep impression on the crowded audience; and everything connected with this settlement was highly gratifying, and promising for the continued peace and prosperity of the congregation. A soiree was held at seven o'clock P.M., when the church was again crowded, and the most lively interest manifested in the proceedings. According to the arrangements of a committee of the congregation, the Rev. Mr Elles presided, and introduced the business of the evening. Mr Robertson then spoke. The other speakers were the Rev. John Bruce, Newmills, on Family Religion; the Rev. William Bruce, Edinburgh, on Christian Union; the Rev. John Edmond, Loanhead, on Missions; the Rev. William Smith, Bannockburn, on the Duties of the Young; the Rev. David Thomas, Mauchline, on the Signs of the Times. Appropriate selections of sacred psalmody were sung between the different speeches, the choral band taking the lead. The Rev. D. Stewart, Stirling, introduced Mr Robertson on the following Sabbath.

CALL.

The call, moderated at Catrine on 6th January, came out for Mr John Millar, sen. Though he had only a majority of one over Mr Laughland in the election, the call is already subscribed by almost all the voters.

OBITUARY.

Died at Alnwick, on the 22d November, the Rev. DAVID PATERSON, minister of the United Associate Congregation there, in the 38th year of his ministry. Mr Paterson's talents and acquirements were of a superior kind, and commanded universal respect, while his high moral worth and uncommon amiableness of temper and manner made him an object of peculiar esteem and fond attachment to those who intimately knew him. His dismission was sudden, but remarkably gentle. He has left a widow and three children. It gives us satisfaction to hear, that the sermon preached after his funeral, by the Rev. Dr Balmer, is about to be published.

BOARD FOR AIDING WEAK CONGREGATIONS.

The Board, appointed by the United Secession Synod, for managing the Fund to assist weak Congregations, have agreed to the following resolutions :

I. That, before entertaining any of the applications made, or to be made

to them, or making any conditional grants out of the fund entrusted to their management, the board shall endeavour to ascertain the number and necessities of all the cases-to relieve which the liberality of the church has recently been called forth; and, for this purpose, that they shall make public their determination not to enter on a consideration of any applications lodged with them, till after the first day of March next.

II. That the board will, as heretofore, extend aid to that class of cases which the church contemplated relieving by this fund; and not to such as may be tempted to apply chiefly on account of the largeness of the sum placed at the board's disposal; and that presbyteries be respectfully cautioned to be discriminating and conscientious when attesting or recommending applications to the board.

January 1844.

DAVID ANDERSON,

JAMES GREIG,

} Secretaries.

ESTABLISHED AND FREE CHURCHES OF SCOTLAND.

"WHAT, then, seems to be the true state of the case, as regards the number of the adherents of the Free Church in Scotland? It is difficult to decide this question with minute correctness, because the constant influx of members from the Establishment into our Free Churches, as soon as we can provide the means of grace for them, and the incessant bustle in which we have been kept in preparing places for their reception, have naturally and necessarily prevented us from making a minutely correct estimate of their numbers hitherto. And yet an approximation may be made to the truth as regards our numbers. We have at least seven hundred congregations, the places of worship for which contain, at an average, six hundred sittings. Suppose, that instead of fifty in the hundred, the low proportion which we have fixed for the Establishment, on account of their indifferent attendance at church, we take sixty in the hundred as the proportion for Free Churchmen and Dissenters. A church containing six hundred, in the proportion of sixty in the hundred, has a population of one thousand connected with it; seven hundred congregations, each with a thousand souls, of which six hundred are able to attend, afford a gross population of seven hundred thousand. This we believe to be below, not above, the number already connected with the Free Church, not to speak of the draining which the Establishment will continue to experience as we are able to multiply the means of grace. Let it also be kept in view, that years ago, in connexion with the Church extension, the mournful fact was proved, that in Scotland there are probably about five hundred thousand of the population utter outcasts from every church. The state of the case may, therefore, be concluded somewhat as follows:Population of Scotland in round numbers, Deduct of outcasts from every church, Dissenters,

Free Churchmen,

.

2,600,000

500,000

500,000

700,000

1,700,000

900,000

This would leave in the Residuary, We believe that we have very considerably under estimated the numbers connected with the dissenting churches and the Free Church, and that we have as much over-estimated the numbers of the Establishment. Moreover, the numbers of the Establishment are being daily reduced, while the numbers of the Free Church are daily increasing. So that even in point of numbers we have about divided with the residuary the population formerly within the pale of the Established church."-Free Church Mag.

MONTHLY RETROSPECT.

Wesleyans and Establishments.-The numerical preponderance of the Methodists in England, together with their organization, their zeal, and their activity, must always render their sentiments and movements of great importance in the eyes of other religious bodies, as well as of mere worldly politicians themselves. It is well known that Wesley, whom the denomination have ever been sufficiently disposed to call Father, gave no uncertain sound respecting the establishment of the church. In his sermon on 2 Thess. v. 7, he says: "But the greatest wound it ever received; the grand blow which was struck at the very root of that humble, gentle, and patient love, which is the fulfilling of the christian law, the whole essence of true religion, was struck in the fourth century by Constantine the Great, when he called himself a christian, and poured in a flood of riches, and honours, and power, upon the christians, more especially upon the clergy. * *And this is the event which most christian expositors mention with such triumph! Yea, which some of them suppose to be typified in the Revelation by the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven!' Rather say it was the coming of Satan and all his legions from the bottomless pit, seeing from that very time he hath set up his throne over the face of the whole earth, and reigned over the christian as well as pagan world without hardly any control." Nevertheless, it has always been understood that the Wesleyans are favourable to establishments, and have all along been characterized by a sneaking attachment to the church of England. In so far, however, as the following extract from a recent number of the Wesleyan Chronicle may be regarded as expressing their sentiments, it will be seen that the above opinion, as respects the Methodists of the present day, must be considerably modified. They would seem to be really voluntaries in principle, or at least moving rapidly in that direction. In a paragraph preceding the extract, it is said- The Wesleyans are not growing in attachment to the Established church. Their affection towards her is cooling every day, and will, ere long, sink below zero." Their sincerity in offering co-operation with dissenters in resisting aggression, was evinced by the part they acted in reference to the education clause in the factory bill. We make no remark on the general position the Chronicle represents them as holding, but some of the advices it subjoins seem worthy of the attention of other denominations. We cannot be too attentive to our home missions and weak stations. One great object, too, which voluntaries ought never to lose sight of, is the formation of public opinion in favour of their views. Without that their triumph is impossible. The extract follows:

"They (our dissenting brethren) will admit that it is desirable to secure the cooperation of the Wesleyan church. Let us see if we cannot agree upon a common plan of action with respect to the common adversary. Some of our dissenting brethren seem to desire an immediate attempt to procure the separation of the church from the state. Others, more experienced, deprecate any measures that are not purely defensive, except by way of diffusing information. It is very desirable that these parties should compose their differences. It is with the more cautious section of their dissenting brethren that the Wesleyans are prepared to act-those who are not disposed, at present, to appeal to the legislature, except it be for the preservation of their present religious liberties, and against any attempt to infringe upon the interests of evangelical truth. In such objects, the co-operation of the Wesleyan church will never be wanting; but she must not be expected to unite, at present, in petitioning parliament for the separation of the church from the state; not because her children are friendly to that connexion, but because they generally believe that the time for seeking its dissolution has not yet arrived. No individuals or sections can be more sensible than the Wesley