special Sabbath to begin with might for this year be fixed at the ensuing Assembly, and a suitable address prepared for circulation in the pews. This, in addition to calling the attention of the whole Church to the existing deficiency, and thus calling forth prayer and effort, is the special Divine method of meeting the great want of which so many justly complain. "The harvest truly is plenteous, the labourers are few; pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth more labourers into His harvest." In name and by appointment of the Committee, JAMES BEGG, Convener. APPENDIX. FREE SYNOD OF ARGYLL. BURSARY FUND for the EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN FOR the MINISTRY, in connexion with the Free Church of Scotland. THIS Fund was instituted by the Synod at its Annual Meeting in 1845. With the exception of one permanent Bursary, of the annual value of £14, the proceeds of a sum mortified by the late Mrs. General Campbell, of Lochnell, for this purpose, and the interest of £500 generously presented last year by Robert Macfie, Esq. of Airds, and which has been invested by the Synod, the Fund depends entirely upon Contributions obtained annually by Members of the Synod, from their own Congregations and other friends of the Free Church. Much good has been done in aiding young men of promise to obtain the education necessary for the Ministry, and not a few of those thus helped now fill important positions as Ministers and Probationers both at home and in the Colonies. But much more might be done if the means were provided. On the grounds, therefore, that the exigency which hitherto has made such a Fund necessary still exists, and that the utmost care is taken to secure its right distribution, the Congregations of the Synod are again appealed to for help; and it is confidently trusted that the contributions will be increasingly liberal. The importance of the object can scarcely be over estimated. C. C. M'INTOSH, D.D., Convener. ASCOG MANSE, BY ROTHESAY, April 1866. The following information is also important :- Ministers within the bounds are enjoined by the Synod to make a collection annually for the Bursary Fund congregationally, or in any other way they may deem best. Ministers are required to certify not only as to the character of Students, but also that their circumstances are such as to warrant the aid of the Synod to be extended to them. Candidates to be eligible, must be either natives of the bounds, or have resided within the bounds for a year previous to examination-the residence to continue until the allocation of the Bursaries in October.' The Rev. ROBERT WILLIAMSON of Ascog, Clerk to the Scheme, and who has devoted much care to its development, adds:- We have no lack of Students in our Synod. I enclose a copy of the last report of our Bursary Committee. I have had charge of the Scheme for the last ten years, and I believe we have been the means of helping not a few deserving young men who could not otherwise have struggled through. R. W.' Other Synods are now following the same course, and in particular that of Aberdeen, of Lothian and Tweeddale, and of Angus and Mearns. In the Synod of Angus and Mearns the following Scheme has been adopted. posed by a Committee, of which Mr. Innes, of Panbride, was follows: PROPOSED SYNODICAL BURSARY SCHEME. It was proConvener, as Mr. INNES, of Panbride, gave in the report of the Committee on this subject, and stated that what was proposed was fully explained in the following resolutions:-1. That, in the present circumstances of the Church, it is eminently desirable to have a Synodical Fund, available for students who have a view to the ministry prosecuting their studies at the University and the Divinity Hall. 2. That, with a view to realize such a Fund, annual contributions of £1 and upwards be solicited from members of the Church within the bounds of the Synod-such annual contributions to be payable on or before May 1st, and to be continued at the option of the subscribers. 3. That Congregations within the bounds, if they find it desirable, may contribute to such fund by an annual collection or otherwise, so as to afford a congregational bursary in whole or in part, to be administered as hereinafter provided. 4. That the management of this bursary fund shall be in the hands of a Committee of Synod, consisting of not fewer than twelve members (five to be a quorum); whereof four shall retire annually from office, and their places be filled up, at the meeting of Synod in April. 5. That the bursaries shall be on a graduated scale of value, rising from £15 as a minimum to £20 as a maximum. 6. That the names of students who intend to compete for bursaries shall be sent to the Clerk of Synod on or before the first day of September, accompanied by a certificate from the minister of the congregation to which they belong, of their moral and religious character and temporal circumstances. 7. That the bursaries shall be determined by competition; and the Committee named by the Synod, as in resolution 4, shall meet for examining the applicants for bursaries during the first week of October. 8. That the Committee shall prepare written examination papers, and determine previous to the examination, the minimum amount of scholarship necessary to acquire or retain a bursary. 9. That the subjects of examination shall embrace, for first year's students, Latin, the elements of Greek, Arithmetic, the elements of Mathematics, English, and Scripture; and for subsequent years, the subjects of study embraced in the previous year's course. 10. That University bursaries so gained shall be tenable for four years, provided those holding them continue to satisfy the Committee annually by certificates and personal examination of their continued good character, diligence, and progress; but that theological bursaries shall be held for two years only. Mr. NIXON, of Montrose, made the following motion, which was unanimously adopted: The Synod approve of the report, adopt the resolutions therein contained, and return their thanks to the Committee, which is hereby dissolved. Further, the Synod, in terms of resolution 4, appoint the following a Committee to carry the Scheme into operation as speedily as possible, namely:-For the Presbytery of Dundee-Messrs. Wilson, Ewing, and Somerville; for the Presbytery of Meigle-Messrs. Bain and M'Crie; for the Presbytery of ForfarMr. Fisher; for the Presbytery of Brechin-Messrs. Nixon and Fraser; for the Presbytery of Fordoun-Mr. Cameron; and for the Presbytery of ArbroathMessrs. Crichton, Salmond, and Innes-Mr. Innes, Convener, and to report to the Synod. Further, the Synod enjoin on presbyteries and ministers within the bounds to give the Committee all needful aid in carrying out the scheme, and earnestly commend it to the liberality of members and congregations of the Church within the Synod.' Free Church of Scotland. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN REGARD TO THE HOUSES OF THE WORKING CLASSES. MAY 1867. YOUR Committee are glad to report that very considerable progress has been made during the past year, both in the way of diffusing an intelligent apprehension of the importance of securing suitable houses for the working classes, and also in the way of promoting the actual improvement of their dwellings. The importance of the question mainly arises from the extensive prevalence of miserable houses in Scotland, the inseparable connexion between the houses and habits of the people, and the immense obstacles raised by wretched house accommodation in the way of Christian progress and social morality. Dividing the question of houses into those connected respectively with the rural and urban districts, your Committee are happy to say that considerable progress has been made in both departments, especially in the way of diffusing information and promoting a healthy public opinion. 1st, In regard to the rural districts: A very important report1 has been laid before Parliament in reference to a form of social degradation which chiefly prevails in six of the counties of England, called the Gang System,' according to which a number of women and young persons of both sexes are employed by a man, called a Gang-master, and moved about amongst the different farms, for the purpose of performing agricultural work. The necessity for this arrangement arises from the general want of cottages in the dis 1 Children's Employment Commission, Sixth Report of the Commissioners, with Appendix. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty. 1867. tricts referred to, but the effect, as may be easily supposed, is most demoralizing and injurious. It is hoped that, after the thorough exposure thus made of a form of evil greater in some respects than any that as yet prevails in Scotland, some effectual means will be taken to secure the erection of cottages, and thus to prevent such an immense social mischief from spreading. It would be also very important were a similar Parliamentary investigation made in regard to the social evils which prevail in some of the rural districts of Scotland. Your Committee are convinced that a full investigation and exposure of the social and moral evils which have arisen in this country from the want of cottages, or the inadequate accommodation furnished in many of them, would be productive of the very best results, whilst, on the other hand, nothing but a strong public opinion thus created is likely to be sufficiently powerful to arrest and root out the mischief. Much has been done of late years, no doubt, in the way of building improved cottages in various districts. It is impossible to travel through some parts of the country without being gratified by witnessing neat and commodious buildings for the accommodation of the ploughmen, springing up in various directions. For this we ought to be very thankful; and yet an immense deal requires still to be done, even in such districts, both in the way of making cottages sufficiently numerous and sufficiently commodious. Taking the calculation of Mr. Hope of Fentonbarns, that there ought to be two cottages for every plough employed on the land, we are still very far short of the necessary supply even in those districts where cottages exist. It is to be regretted that the ploughmen themselves have not made this a more special object in their efforts to improve their condition. Nothing would more directly tend to their comfort and social elevation than better houses and suitable gardens, and in seeking to secure this they would meet with the cordial support of the general community. Turning from those districts, however, in which the possession of cottages by the ploughmen is the general rule, and where the object should be to improve the existing arrangement, your Committee regret to say, that, so far as they can discover, not much improvement has been made in the way of removing the bothies in those districts where they prevail. The farm-kitchen system seems also as prevalent as ever in certain parts of the country, and as injurious, being often only the bothy system in a worse form. No doubt something considerable has been done in the way of exposing the immoral effects of these systems, and thus probably of preventing them from spreading; but in all probability nothing will remove them but a thorough investigation and exposure by public authority, coupled with some effectual means for extending the Cottage system throughout all the agricultural districts. In the southern parts of Scotland, as well as partly in the northern counties of England, a system prevails called the Bondage system. Of late much agitation in opposition to this system has prevailed among the people themselves, and this has resulted in a tendency to its abatement or abandonment. A prize of £10 was offered by the Rev. John Thomson of Hawick, for the best essay on 'The Evils of the Bondage System, with Suggestions on the best mode for their Removal.' The prize was gained by William Fairbairn, shepherd, Bartle Hill, Berwickshire, and his essay has since been published in two editions by J. & J. H. Rutherford, Kelso. The essay is a most sensible production, written with great calmness, and indicating alike intelligence and sound principle. The author gives the following description of the system referred to: 'The Bondage system is that part of the agreement between the farmer and his householding servants, whereby the latter are bound to provide a female worker, or sometimes a boy, to be employed exclusively on their master's farm at a stipulated wage. It exists principally in the south of Scotland, and some parts of the north of England, where the ploughmen reside almost entirely on the farm, in cottages built for that purpose, and has for its object, in the absence of towns and villages, to secure a requisite number of hands to carry on the lighter kind of work on an arable farm. The women that the hinds are thus bound to provide are usually designated bondagers, and may be said to consist of two classes, such as are the daughters of hinds and other farm-servants, and such as are hired from the neighbouring towns and villages, together with a few from the Highlands of Scotland, and from Ireland. It is, however, only to such of the former class as are obliged to remain with their father as bondagers, while their inclination would lead them otherwise, that the designation is at all applicable. All the rest are so voluntarily, indeed it may rather be said to have benefited them, as to it they owe their present large wages. The facts of the case may be thus briefly stated. The farmer will not engage a ploughman unless he agrees to provide a worker. If none of his family are able or willing to meet this demand, he must take a stranger as an inmate of his little cottage, involving discomfort and annoyance, and frequently outraging decency. The ploughman, in a moral point of view, is obliged to accede to this demand, because individually he has no means of avoiding it, without risking his labour in a market already more than supplied, and this to some extent by others no less necessitous than himself, who have sought to escape this grievance. He therefore prefers what he considers the lesser of two evils, viz., compliance with the bondage system, and constant employment with constant fare, though it may be somewhat coarse and scanty for himself and family, to freedom from the bondage system and a precarious employment, with the probability of falling into debt, a circumstance in itself of no small moment to the majority of agricultural labourers. When or how this system commenced, I for my part have not the means of ascertaining.' |