Libraries are secured and they are continually augmented from time to time as new books and papers come into existence, and thus form a permanent centre and fountainhead of important and necessary knowledge. The first duty which your Committee performed was to inquire in regard to the books at present actually belonging to the Church. They regret to find that these are so few in number, but still they may form the basis of the ample and well-selected collection at the possession of which the Church should immediately aim. The following is the list of the books in our possession : 1. BOOKS IN DEPUTE-CLERK'S HANDS. Volumes of the Acts (for preservation) since 1842. since do. Proceedings (Blue Book) since do. Do. Reports Do. Do. Cases since do. 2. BOOKS FORMERLY IN THE REV. JOHN JAFFRAY'S POSSESSION. 54 Reports of the Wesleyan Missionary Transactions. 19 Vols. of Acts of Old Assembly, etc. 30 Vols. of Missionary Record. 12 Vols. Church Pamphlets. 4 Large Vols. Religious Reports. Minutes of Committee of Council on Education. Memoirs of Williams, etc., etc. And a few other small Volumes of Biographies, etc. Your Committee leave it to the Assembly to say how this list of books is to be so increased as that a proper Library of Reference shall be formed. It would be very desirable were a considerable sum of money raised, so that we should be enabled to purchase at once, or as opportunity may offer, a number of the leading books which should undoubtedly form part of such a collection as it is proposed to establish. Donations of books might also be solicited by a direct appeal to all interested, under the authority of the General Assembly. No doubt many, both of ministers and laymen, may be expected to feel anxious about the promotion of such an important object; and although the gathering together of all the books necessary must undoubtedly be a work of time, it is of great importance to make a good beginning. By keeping the attention of the Church steadily fixed upon the subject, and by soliciting donations and legacies of money and books, your Committee are convinced that, in a comparatively short period, very much may be done for securing the main elements of a valuable Library. Your Committee commend this important object to the earnest consideration of the Assembly. In name of the Committee, JAMES BEGG, Convener. Free Church of Scotland. SPECIAL REPORT OF THE SUSTENTATION FUND COMMITTEE WITH REGARD TO CHARGES CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUSTENTATION FUND AT AND UNDER £50 PER ANNUM. MAY 1867. At a Special Meeting of the SUSTENTATION FUND COмMITTEE, held on the 15th of April 1867, the following Report of a Sub-Committee appointed to consider said matter was approved of, and directed to be transmitted to the General Assembly, with the recommendation that a Special Commission be appointed to deal with the Congregations referred to in that Report, with such powers as the General Assembly think such a Commission ought to be intrusted with: SINCE the date of their appointment, the Sub-Committee have had several protracted meetings, and they have confined their attention exclusively to Congregations contributing at and below £50. On the 24th of December last, the Sub-Committee issued a communication to all the Congregations which contributed last year at or below £50 to the Sustentation Fund, being 94 in number. In that communication the attention of the Deacons' Courts of these Congregations was specially directed to the fact, that, for the year referred to, these 94 Congregations had cost the Church no less than £10,100 over and above the amount of their Contributions, and that not a few of them were actually showing a decrease in their contributions for the current year. The Sub-Committee very earnestly pressed on the Deacons' Courts the absolute necessity that there was for endeavouring to lighten this heavy burden upon the fund.* Wherever any of these Congregations had passed the Committee within the last ten years, and had fallen short of the sum promised by them, or adjusted with the Committee for said year, a note was enclosed calling their attention to it, and requesting an explanation of the cause of the shortcoming; and in every case where the contributions at the 15th December showed any decrease as compared with the corresponding period of last year, a copy of the Extract Minute of the Committee of 18th December last, directed to be sent to all the Congregations showing any decrease at that date, was also enclosed. The Sub-Committee regret to say that they have not had many replies to these communications. The Sub-Committee selected a number of cases for special communication, where it is known to the Sub-Committee that the Congregation is either very small, or from one cause or other is rapidly dwindling away. A List of these Congregations will be found in the subjoined Appendix. Instead of addressing any official communication to these Congregations, the Sub-Committee thought it advisable to divide the cases amongst themselves, and write a less formal communication to the Ministers, in order to ascertain their views as to the cause of the small amount of the contribution and the small attendance as reported to the Committee. In some cases the Sub-Committee requested also to know whether, in their opinion, it was desirable to perpetuate a Ministerial charge at so heavy a cost to the Church, where it seemed apparent that there was neither population nor attendance demanding the full services of a Minister; *The calculation in this clause was made on the assumption that all the Charges were full for the whole of the year referred to; but deducting the periods during which some of the Charges were vacant, the actual sum paid from the Sustentation Fund, over and above the amount of the Contributions, was £8859, 28. 8d. and where, in most cases, it appeared to the Sub-Committee that a different and somewhat less expensive arrangement might be sufficient. The Sub-Committee regret to be obliged to report that nothing satisfactory has come out of that correspondence. And they are bound to state that in many cases the explanations which have been given have not removed the impression which previously existed on the minds of the Committee. The Sub-Committee believe that they have gone as far as their powers warranted; and it will be for the Committee itself to say whether anything further should be done, or whether these investigations must now take end. In name and by authority of Sub-Committee, H. HANDYSIDE. |