respect of statements made on the part of the Presbytery of Skye and Uist, in the course of the pleadings in the preceding case, relative to the great spiritual destitution existing in Skye, their means of meeting which must be greatly diminished by Mr MacEachran's removal, that a Committee be appointed to confer with the Commissioners of the Presbytery of Skye and Uist regarding the spiritual interests of Skye, and to report before the rising of Assembly, with suggestions as to the best method of strengthening the hands of the remaining members of the Presbytery, in their efforts to provide the population with a more ample supply of the means of grace."

The motion of Mr Dunlop and that of Dr Candlish having been agreed to, parties were called in and judgment intimated to them.

THE CALL FROM BRACO.

The Assembly then proceeded to take up an appeal from a decision of the Synod of Perth, refusing to translate Mr Charles Stewart from the congregation at Kirkmichael to that of Braco. Parties having been called, there appeared, for the appellants, Presbytery of Auchterarder-Mr Omond and Mr Colquhoun, Clathick; congregation at Braco-Messrs James White and James Kinross; for the Synod of Perth-Mr John W. Thomson and Mr Kessen; Mr Stewart appeared for himself; for the congregation at Kirkmichael there was no appearance.

Mr COLQUHOUN stated the reasons for appeal, which were to the effect, that the congregation at Braco is a large and important one, and likely to become more so every year, in consequence of recent railway operations; the call to Mr Stewart was large and cordial, and altogether unanimous ; Mr Stewart distinctly stated to the Presbytery of Dunkeld, and again to the Synod of Perth, that he saw it to be his duty to accept of said call; and the people of Kirkmichael, while expressing their great affection for Mr Stewart, and their regret to lose him as their pastor, expressed at the same time their determination not to oppose the translation. He referred to an objection which would in all probability be made, on the ground that if Mr Stewart left Kirkmichael, he would be leaving a Gaelic congregation, and coming to a low country one. Now, he did not think that Kirkmichael was a bona fide Gaelic congregation. During the time of the Gaelic service not onefifth of the congregation remained, and, notwithstanding, there could be no doubt that Mr Stewart's services would be serviceable even as a Highland minister, even if he were removed to Braco.

Mr THOMSON, for the Synod, said it appeared to him that the whole case lay within a very small compass. He was at a loss to understand that any very great reason for translating Mr Stewart lay in the circumstance that the Scottish Central Railway skirts Braco. They all knew that every country congregation, when desirous of securing the services of a minister, uniformly represented themselves as a large and important congregation. Now, the fact was, that the two, Braco and Kirkmichael, were just ordinary country congregations, neither of them were either very large or very small, but the one had taken a fancy for the minister of the other. The only element in the case for the appellants was, that Mr Stewart had signified his willingness to accept of the call, and while this was certainly to be looked at, still he could not agree that it was to be looked at exclusively. After the representations which had been made again and again as to the destitution in the Highlands, and the difficulty of supplying vacant charges, he thought the Assembly would be disposed to hesitate before they removed in this instance a minister from a Gaelic-speaking to a Lowland congregation.

Mr OMOND, for the Presbytery of Auchterarder, contended that Braco is relatively a large congregation, and an important one. Mr Stewart's Gaelic would be useful in that district, and it was to be recollected that they had here a unanimous call, and that Mr Stewart was himself of opinion that it was his duty to accept it.

Mr STEWART said, he had no desire to make any lengthened statement. He had only to observe, that he still considered it to be his duty to adhere to the opinion which he had expressed in both the inferior courts. Much had been said about Gaelic, and he at once confessed that, had Kirkmichael been really a Gaelic congregation, he would never have thought of leaving it. In that quarter, however, his Gaelic was virtually buried.

Sir HENRY MONCREIFF inquired what was admitted as the proportion of the population of the district that require Gaelic?

Mr STEWART replied that Gaelic was only occasionally preached in the afternoon, and on these occasions not above one-fourth of the congregation remained, while there were not more than four individuals in the congregation who required to have Gaelic preached to them.

Mr THOMSON said, in answer to the same question, that if Mr Stewart was removed, the congregation must be provided with a Gaelic-speaking minister. Dr CANDLISH inquired if the only occasional preaching in Gaelic was sanctioned by the Presbytery?

Mr STE VART.-The Presbytery have never interfered in the matter. Mr THOMSON of Paisley inquired what was the number of communicants in the Braco congregation.

It was replied-295 at Braco, and 205 at Kirkmichael.

Parties were removed.

Sir HENRY WELLWOOD MONCREIFF said, he had some difficulty in making any proposal in this case. There was a difficulty on both sides. If they spoke of confirming the sentence of the Synod, they might be met with this objection, that the mind of the minister had been indicated to be in one direction, that they had a unanimous call; and they had not the congregation of Kirkmichael appearing at their bar and objecting to the translation. They did not come to object to the translation. Again, on the other hand, the Pres bytery and the Synod were manifestly divided on the point. But then they had to take into account another important element, namely, the question of the power of speaking the Gaelic language. Now, he felt that if it had not been for that consideration, if it had been shown that the case of Kirk michael was not one clearly requiring a Gaelic-speaking minister, then there could not be any good reason for refusing to translate Mr Stewart. But, looking at the case, the difficulty arose on the other side, that there was really hardly any argument of force for the translation, except the call, and the willingness of Mr Stewart to accept it. He was not willing to oppose the wish of a minister in such a case; but still there appeared to him to be a strong argument for the keeping him in his present charge, where he was labouring in a district where he could exercise the gifts of which he is possessed; and they would hardly be doing justice to the interests of the Church if, without something stronger than they had heard, they agreed to the trans lation. He begged, in all the circumstances of the case, to move that the appeal be dismissed.

Dr CANDLISH was of opinion that there was a wide difference in this from the case formerly disposed of, when he would not have acquiesced had the charge to which the minister was to be translated been one where there was to be no use of Gaelic. Here Mr Stewart tells us his Gaelic is buried

in Kirkmichael, but surely it would be more so in Braco; and therefore he did not think they would be justified in giving effect to a translation in this case, and therefore felt disposed to second the motion.

Mr THOMSON of Paisley had some difficulty in coming to the conclusion proposed. The matter of the Gaelic was certainly a strong point; and certainly, if the removal of Mr Stewart from Kirkmichael implied that that congregation was to be deprived of preaching in Gaelic, he would see greater difficulty in the way. He looked to the expression of the minister's own mind, to which he attached great weight; and since the minister was willing to go, and his people had made up their minds to part with him, he could not concur in the proposal.

Mr J. F. MACFARLAN sympathised very much with the reverend gentleman in the feelings he had expressed; for it did appear to him that a sufficient case had been made out to justify the translation of Mr Stewart to Braco. Three particulars of great importance were stated in the printed documents,-first, the call from Braco was large, cordial, and unanimous ; second, the reverend gentleman had accepted the call; and, third, the people of Kirkmichael had agreed to offer no resistance to the translation of their minister; and as thus all the three parties interested appeared to be of one mind, the duty of the Church seemed to be to allow the translation to take place.

Dr CANDLISH wished to direct Mr Macfarlan's attention to the resolution of the congregation at Kirkmichael, as stated at bottom of page 2 of the

printed papers.

Mr MACFARLAN resumed-Admitting that it is there stated that the congregation are prepared to offer every constitutional opposition to their minister's removal, yet subsequently they had altered their mind, and resolved to offer no farther resistance, believing that this course will be more for the peace and prosperity of the Church than to continue opposition. This being their opinion on mature reflection, it did appear that all parties were agreed, that it would be more for the peace and prosperity of the Church that the translation should take place, the more especially, as had been stated at the bar, as the congregation of Kirkmichael had not so much of a Highland character as to render it essential for them to have a Gaelicspeaking minister; and he therefore felt disposed to move the translation, but would rather wish first to hear the opinion of other members of the house. Mr Macfarlan subsequently moved, That the Assembly sustain the appeal, reverse the judgment of the Synod of Perth, and translate Mr Stewart from Kirkmichael to be minister of the congregation at Braco.

Mr WOOD of Ely said, The truth was, there is at present such a deficiency of Gaelic ministers, that they could not be had, and, if Mr Stewart was removed from his present charge, in all likelihood another Gaelic minister would be taken from the Highlands to supply his place.

Mr M'RAE of Braemar did not wish to occupy the time of the house, but this was a case in which he felt unwilling to give a silent vote. There was an important principle involved in the case. The question appeared to be, whether a minister, acquainted with the Gaelic language, should be permitted to remove to a congregation in which that language was not required. Now, circumstances might render it very desirable for a minister to remove from a Gaelic congregation. He might, in the mean time, have no call from a suitable congregation in the Highlands, and it would be hard that the circumstance of his being acquainted with Gaelic should shut him out from other portions of the vineyard. If this principle were acted on, it would

operate as a discouragement to the study of the Gaelic language, and, instead of being beneficial, it would prove injurious to the best interests of the Highlands.

Sir HENRY WELLWOOD MONCREIFF, in reply, said, With reference to the remarks of Mr M'Rae, that the supporters of the first motion were very far from intending or wishing to preclude the translation of a Gaelic minister to any prominent station in the Lowlands for which his gifts might particularly qualify him; but that, in the present instance, they had not been able to find any argument for the translation, except the willingness of the minister and the absence of opposition, which did not appear sufficient to justify the removal of a Gaelic minister to a congregation for which Gaelic was not required.

Dr BROWN of Aberdeen, under all the circumstances, was compelled to support the motion; though, as the congregation seemed to have made up their mind to part with their minister, it was putting the minister in a very awkward situation to send him back.

Mr GIBSON of Glasgow was of opinion that there was something due, not merely to particular congregations, but to the general state of the Highlands, and would support the motion.

Mr MAURICE LOTHIAN said that the arguments employed in resisting the translation had been so nicely balanced by the mover of that motion, that it seemed as if he were unable to make out which way it should be decided; just as if he had taken his staff, and twirling it round, looked to see which way it would fall. From his own views, as well as from what he had heard expressed by the members sitting round him, he thought the sense of the house should be taken, and therefore seconded Mr Macfarlan's amendment. Dr BARCLAY was afraid that, if Mr Stewart was sent back to Kirkmichael, his influence would be very much destroyed.

The vote was then taken, when the first motion, to dismiss the appeal and retain Mr Stewart in his present charge, was carried by 84 to 41. The Assembly adjourned at six o'clock till half-past seven.

EVENING SEDERUNT.

The Assembly resumed at half-past seven o'clock.

SUSTENTATION FUND.

Dr Buchanan, Convener of the Sustentation Fund Committee, then gave in the following statement as to the Fund for the past year :

"Received from Associations during year 1850-51, Donations and Individual Subscriptions, do.

Revenue for year 1850–51,

Do.

1849-50,

Increase on present year,

£88,027 9 7

3,499 19 1

£91,527 8 8

89,764 3 6

£1,763 5 2

The following statement will shew the amount payable to the Ministers for the year 1851

1. Revenue for the year 1850-51,
2. Interest on Bank Accounts,

£91,527 8 8 422 5 8

Brought forward,

The number of Ministers on roll of Presbyteries last year (includ-
ing four omitted to be returned), and entitled to draw stipend from
the Sustentation Fund, was
Admitted to Old Charges during the

Admitted to New Charges,

year,

711

21

25

736

£91,949 14 4

Total number of Ministers receiving Stipend at May 15. 1851, from the Central Fund,

8

728

1. Expenses of Management, including Salaries, Travelling Charges of Superintendent of Associations, Convener, Deputations, Corresponding Members of Synod, Postages, Parcels, £813 13 4

&c.

Leaving for Ministers' Stipend and Widows' Rates, £87,703 14 5 Sum payable to the Widows' Fund in terms of the Act

Sum at the disposal of Assembly for the payment of Ministers' Stipends,