but, claiming descent from Jacob, they may not be uninterested in a Jewish mission, and may receive from our missionaries to the Holy Land, the announcement of the gospel. By the Jews of the Holy Land, I was received with the greatest kindness, an introductory letter which I took with me from Bombay having allayed their suspicions, and called forth their hospitality. I received much valuable information from them about different localities and objects of interest, and held with them various interestting discussions. A Jew who had accompanied me from India, and who was a witness to our interviews with the Rabbis of Tiberias, the most learned Rabbis in the world, declared to me, as the result of his observation on the occasion, that he considered the Jewish cause hopeless, as the Rabbis of Tiberias would not meet the Christian argument. Our reasons for selecting Damascus as the head-quarters of our mission, I have laid before our Committee; and they have been given to the public, and must satisfy all parties that the station which we have chosen, is a most important one. Mr Graham and I preferred it to Jerusalem, solely because, at the latter place, there is already an efficient mission in operation. I am happy to give my humble testimony in favour of the English bishop at Jerusalem, who is there a most zealous conductor of evangelical operations, as well as a superintendent of the mission. He received me with perfect brotherly feeling and great kindness. At Jerusalem we witnessed the baptism of four Jews, two of whom were Rabbis. They all belong to the Ashkenazim or German Jews. The Sephardim, or Asiatic Jews, at Jerusalem, wield great power under the Sultan, and their chief Rabbi can order summary punishment on a Jew, a circumstance by no means favourable to religious inquiry. He has an honorary guard of six soldiers standing at his door. I had a good deal of interesting intercourse with the Samaritans at Nablous, the Shechem of the Old, and the Sychar of the New Testament, and altogether, I staid four days with their chief priest. He showed us, not only the old Samaritan manuscripts which he is accustomed to show to travellers, but one of a much greater antiquity, which he exhibited with great reluctance; and I was parti. cularly struck with the plausibility of his reasonings connected with the system which he espoused, when he stated that the Samaritan creed is comprised in five articles-God is one-Moses is the prophet of God-The Pentateuch is the law of God-Mount Gerizim is the Kiblah, or centre of worship-and there will be a day of resurrection. I asked him to prove the last article of belief from the five books of Moses. "The matter is easy," he said, "is it not thus written, I kill and I make alive;' do you suppose that people are to remain in their graves after they are made alive again?" The prophecy, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be," he applied to Solomon, whose sovereignty he declared extended through all countries, from the river unto the ends of the earth, and to whom even the birds of the air were subject; thus giving expression to his belief in a legend common to the books of the Samaritans, the Talmud, and the Koran. The Messiah, he maintained, is to be of Joseph, of whom is to be "the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel." I did not succeed in my attempt to purchase from him a copy of the Pentateuch; but I procured from another quarter at Nablous some interesting Samaritan manuscripts. Dr Wilson concluded by giving some most interesting details connected with the missions at Constantinople and Pesth. He dwelt on the great promise of the Rev. Mr Swartz, and the great learning and influence of Dr Duncan, and the success which had attended the labours of his excellent associates. He expressed his intention to furnish full information on all these subjects to the Committee; and to lay before the public the result of his general inquiries and research.

It was then moved by Mr ELDER, and unanimously agreed to, "That the interim report made by the Rev. Dr Candlish, on the part of the Committee on the Conversion of the Jews, be approved; that the Assembly have heard with great joy, and with feelings of unfeigned gratitude to God, of the adherence to the Free Church, of all the missionaries the Church of Scotland had sent to seek after the lost sheep of Israel, and of the promptitude and liberality with which the members of the Free Church have supplied the necessary funds for the Jewish Scheme; and farther,

that the thanks of this house be given to the Rev. Dr Keith, Convener of the Committee, for his great and manifold services to this cause; and that during his absence on the Continent, the Rev. Dr Duncan, Professor of Oriental Languages to the Free Church, be appointed to act as Convener pro tempore of the Jewish Committee."

On the motion of Mr PITCAIRN, the Moderator was requested to convey to Dr Keith, by letter, the thanks of the Assembly.

The Assembly then adjourned at a quarter to five, to meet again at seven o'clock evening.

EVENING SEDERUNT.

The Assembly having been constituted by devotional exercises, the Clerk read the minutes of the forenoon sederunt.

Dr CANDLISH said that, in reference to one portion of the minute, that connected with the Colonial Report, he had to supply an omission, as to the relation which now subsisted between this Church and the Presbyterian Church in Canada. This was a matter requiring the serious consideration of the Church previous to the next meeting of Assembly. He would therefore move that the matter be remitted to the Colonial Committee, with instructions to report to next Assembly. Agreed to.

BUILDING COMMITTEE.

Mr JOHN HAMILTON read the Report of the Building Committee, which we give at length:

"This Committee is charged with the promotion of an object which, in the present crisis of the Church, is of primary moment. A congregation without a place of worship, and consequently without the means of assembling for the public worship of God, can neither enjoy its privileges nor exercise its functions, and cannot, indeed, with propriety be said to be constituted, or to exist, in the capacity of a Christian congregation. If, therefore, we look to organised and vigorous congregations as the instrumentality by which we are to provide for the permanent sustentation of the ministry, and for the effective prosecution of all the ulterior and deeply interesting objects of our Church, we are now, first of all, called upon, by one combined effort, to effect the initial object of providing places of worship for our congregations in doing which we shall, by one and the same act, evince the power of that animating spirit which is to carry us onward through every subsequent step of our great enterprise, and make good what, by the Divine appointment, and under the Divine blessing, forms the best means for its accomplishment.

"The precise object at which the Church presently aims is, the providing of places of worship for the congregations created by the immediate effects of the recent movement. To provide places of worship for the congregations which may be formed at an after period, will constitute the object of a progressive scheme of church extension, the demands of which will be afterwards provided for, according as emerging events may require. In the mean time, the attention of the Committee, and of the Church, may be advantageously limited to that vast scheme-not of church extension, but of church creation-upon which the events of the last few months have summoned us to engage.

"At the present moment we are still plunged in the first throng and bustle of this great initial undertaking; and the General Assembly therefore must not expect to obtain, from this interim report of the Committee, full and exact information respecting the state and prospects of the work. This Committee has not been charged with the actual execution, or even with the responsible superintendence of the work throughout the country,-its duty being limited to the furnishing of advice or assistance to those who require it. Though, therefore, the Committee have been engaged in a very extensive correspondence, the information which has thence been supplied is of a broken and desultory character; and though they have sought for more systematic information, by means of schedules issued for the purpose, still the returns are too imperfect to afford more than data from which probable conclusions

may be drawn. In the necessary absence of definite information, the opponents of the Church have not been slow to circulate surmises of coming failure, and to figure to themselves the speedy overthrow of our hopes. But imperfect as the Committee's information is, it will be found amply sufficient at once to dissipate all such idle forebodings. So far from there being room for despondency, there is ground for nothing but gratulation; and, looking at the astonishing progress which has been made in so short a period, the Committee will confidently call upon the Church, and all its members, "to thank God, and take courage." We know, indeed, that we are engaged in a work of magnitude,—of great and inspiring magnitude,—a work which demands our utmost, our sustained and self-sacrificing exertions; and which, with all these exertions, and with all the aid which the awakened sympathies of evangelical Christendom may yield to us, will, after all, be but scarcely accomplished. But the work is worthy of all that can be done or sacrificed for it; and stimulated, therefore, by the sympathies of our friends abroad, and animated by the success which has attended our past exertions at home, let us combine in one more strenuous effort, and, as will be seen from what follows, there is no reason to doubt that, with God's blessing, it will prove to be a finishing and crowning effort.

"The Committee will endeavour, in the first place, to lay before the house a very general, but, they trust, sufficiently just view of the present state of the Church's great building scheme, without any special reference to the departments into which the work is distributed. And, in the second place, they will explain more particularly the state and prospects of the Central Building Fund, which alone falls under the direct and immediate control of the Committee; their conclusions and inferences throughout being founded, as already explained, upon such data as have, up to the present time, been placed within their reach.

"I. General State and Prospects of Building Operations.

"The number of churches which are at present to be built has been usually stated, in round numbers, at 600. Considered in reference to the number of churches now actually in the course of erection, this statement is very considerably beyond the truth; but considered in relation to the number of churches requiring to be built, and which will be commenced and be in progress in the course of the ensuing spring and summer, the statement probably falls as much short of the reality. The Committee have just received returns on a set of schedules, issued with a view of obtaining information on every point of interest connected with our building operations. There has not yet been time fully to analyse the information embodied in these returns. But it may be stated generally, that, up to the present date, returns have been received from no fewer than 600 different parties, all of whom are in the course of building, or have the design or hope of proceeding to build at no distant period. As invariably happens on all such occasions, a number of parties,-from negligence or inadvertency,-have failed to return their schedules. In the Presbytery of Edinburgh, for example, there is a failure to make returns on the part of not less, perhaps, than one-third of the whole congregations within the bounds-these, too, being parties, many of them the farthest advanced, and the best equipped for their building operations. It would be doing injustice to the Church to conclude that the Presbyteries generally have been guilty of the same amount of criminal negligence which has, in this instance, distinguished the metropolitan Presbytery. But from a general survey of the whole, the Committee consider themselves warranted in estimating the defalcation of returns from all parts of the country as amounting to not less than 100; and if we add this number, therefore, to the 600 returns actually received, we have 700 as the total number of churches now or speedily requiring to be erected. It thus appears, therefore, that we are a growing company. Four hundred and seventy ministers left their churches on the 18th of May; and, in the course of five months, we find ourselves in the course of being called to form seven hundred congregations, and to erect seven hundred churches! The growth of our cause, no doubt, adds prodigiously to our difficulties; but does it not add also immeasurably to our encouragements; and when the great Head of the Church has, by his blessing, given such success, may we not take it as a pledge that He will also, by His grace, give hearts to improve it to His glory?

"It is true that out of the parties who have made the returns on the six hundred schedules just mentioned, there may be a few who may never be able to bring their good purposes to maturity; but, on the other hand, the past progress of our cause gives us reason to believe that other parties will speedily spring up in numbers more than sufficient to counterbalance any such deficiencies; so that, in estimating the extent of the work now before us-and for which we are bound immediately to make provision-the Committee are of opinion that we cannot calculate the number of churches now building, or speedily to be proceeded with, at fewer than the number which has been mentioned, viz. seven hundred.

"Now, from ample data before the Committee, they are enabled to state that the average size of the churches required by our congregations is 600 sittings; and that the average expense of the churches may be taken at L.500. This is much less than one-half of the cost at which churches have hitherto been erected in this country. But, in the erection of our Free Churches, there are free carriages, and free labour, and materials given free, and much free and hearty good-will to the cause-prompting to moderate charges, and to a general observance of a wise and rigid economy; and the result is, that if these things continue as they have been— and there is no reason to doubt that they will-we may safely calculate on the erection, at the marvellously low average cost that has been mentioned, of churches which, in external appearance, and still more in internal comfort, are vastly superior to our ordinary parish churches. Still, at this moderate estimate of the expense of our churches, the amount of funds required for their erection is truly formidable. To erect 700 churches at the average cost of L.500 for each, requires the enormous sum of L.350,000; and this, too, it will be remembered, is irrespective altogether of the prices paid for the sites on which the churches are erected. In towns especially, and in many other situations, very large sums must be expended in the purchase of ground; so that, on this account, a great addition requires to be made to the above sum of L.350,000, in order to give the actual cost of our churches. But throwing, in the mean time, the expense of the sites entirely out of view, and leaving it as a burden to be afterwards provided for, the question now presented to us is this, What has been done to meet the expense of the churches themselves, and what prospect is there of our being able to defray such an enormous expenditure? The Committee will now endeavour to answer this question.

"The total subscriptions for the Central Building fund, made directly to the general treasurer of the fund, up to the 9th day of October (including L.7000 already received from England), amount to the sum of

"The total subscriptions for the Central Fund, made through the medium of Associations, and transmitted and paid through them to the general treasurer of the Fund, amount to about

"Making the total subscriptions for the Central Fund, whether made directly to the general treasurer, or transmitted and paid to him through Associations

"The total subscriptions for local objects, made by Associations (the greater part of which is retained in the hands of local treasurers, to be locally applied), as these subscriptions have been reported, on returns recently made to the Financial Com mittee, amount to

"And, adding the Central Fund and the subscriptions for local objects together, we have thus the sum of

as the amount of the pecuniary contributions to the great building object of the Church.

"To this sum must be added the munificent donations in kind which have been contributed to our cause, but which do not appear as cash in our treasurer's books,-that is to say, the entire churches which have been built by individuals, at their own

L.56,064 19 8

20,115 3 3

76,180 2 11

91,718 5 5

167,898 8 4

charges, and freely presented to the Church. Of these we have to record the following, viz. :-The Dowager Marchioness of Breadalbane gives a church, and also a manse, at Langton; Mr Hog of Newliston gives a church and manse at Kirkliston; Mr Campbell of Monzie gives a church at Monzie, and another at Dalmally; Mrs Paston gives a church and manse at Markinch; Trail, Esq., gives a church at Papa Westray; Mr Young gives a church at Burntisland; Mr Johnstone and Mr Lennox of New York, give L.1100 to erect a church at Kirkcudbright; Captain Wemyss gives a church at Wemyss. And to these most honourable instances of liberality, we have yet to add the bounty of that distinguished nobleman who, after having proved from first to last, the stanch and unflinching advocate of our principles in high places, has this day given us the satisfaction of seeing him in the midst of us, an efficient working elder of the Free Protesting Church of Scotland. Lord Breadalbane, besides presenting to the Presbytery of Perth the entire stock of larch timber stored in his yards at Perth -being timber of the noblest growth produced in Scotland, and in the most perfect state of seasoning,-has given 2,000,000 of slates from his celebrated quarries in Argyllshire, the value of which alone is not less than L. 4000 sterling. His lordship has farther proposed to confer upon the Church the benefit of the right which he enjoys under his patent, as Admiral of the west coast of Scotland, to the drift wood stranded upon its shores. The inquiries and arrangements necessary to enable the Committee to enter on the possession of this right, are on the point of being completed; and the right is represented to them as being one of very great value. And, in addition to all this, Lord Breadalbane is now exercising, in innumerable nameless acts, a liberality and bounty towards the various churches rising within the bounds of his own princely domains, which will promote the vital interests of his people, and root him in their affections to a degree that nothing else could accomplish, and which present an example to the aristocracy of Scotland, which it is deeply to be deplored that so few of them have yet shown a disposition to imitate.

"It would be impossible for the Committee, and would indeed be foreign to their present object, to attempt to enumerate the manifold minor acts of liberality of a similar kind which have been performed by other individuals; but they would do great injustice to their own feelings, if they omitted to mention the name of another nobleman the most extensive proprietor of patronages in Scotland-who has uniformly manifested the utmost favour towards the objects of the Church. The Earl of Zetland has not only given sites both for churches and manses gratuitously, wherever they are required, but has farther testified bis confidence towards the Free Church, in a manner which is highly gratifying, by giving to the Presbytery of Stirling the free use of a new and very valuable church in the important town of Grangemouth.

"The various churches thus built and presented, together with Lord Breadalbane's grants and acts of bounty, cannot be estimated as of less value than

"Which, added to the subscriptions in money already stated, gives, as the total amount already subscribed and reported, as available towards the accomplishment of our great undertaking, the sum of

L. 15,000 0 0

L. 182,898 8 4