Our Correspondents. SCOTLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 1341, 11 August 1877, Page 6

Our Correspondents. SCOTLAND.

Edinburgh, June 6th.

The great event of the month, so far as Scotland is concerned, is the holding of the annual sessions of the General Assemblies of the Established and Free Churches, and of the Synod of the TJ.P. Church. The last met first as usual, from May 14th to 22nd, and its sittings were this year held in Glasgow, in John street U.P. Church. The Assemblies met in Edinburgh as usual, commencing their sittings on May 24th, but the Free Assembly is to meet in Glasgow next year. The respective Moderators were :— Established : Rev. Dr Phin, Convener of the Home Mission Committee, and formerly parish Minister of Galashiels. Free : Rev. Dr Goold, of the Martyrs' Church, Edinburgh, and last Moderator of the late Reformed Presbyterian Synod. United Presbyterian : Rev. Mr France, of Paisley. The only noteworthy event of the various sessions was a debate in the Free Assembly on the conduct of Mr W. Robertson Smith, one of the Professors in the Free Church College at Aberdeen. He had published in the new edition of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," opinions on various Biblical matters, and especially on the author ship of the Book of Deuteronomy, which were regarded as heterodox. The case had excited the intensest interest throughout Scotland for months before the Assembly met, and tne debate was consequently listened to with breathless eagerness by an audience which packed the spacious hall well-nigh to suffocation. Professor Smith found an advocate in Professor Candlish, of Glasgow, who urged that the case was not yet ready for hearing by he Assembly, and moved that it should be remitted to the Presbytery of Aberdeen. Professor Candlish read his speech, but it lost little thereby. The Rev. Dr Wilson, of Dundee, moved, and the Rev. Dr MoodyStuart, of ;Edinburgh, seconded, the suspension of Mr Smith from his professorial duties. The Rev. Mr Laurie, of Tulliallan, proposed a middle course, but atterwards withdrew his motion. Eventually, after a most exciting dehate, in which some of the biggest guns of the Free Church took part, and Dr Beg* discharged his heaviest artillery, Dr Wilson's motion was carried, as against Professor Cand liah's, by 491 vctes to 113. The effect of it, as I have said, is to suspend Mr Smith from his professorial duties, but it does not interfere with his preaching The following tabular statement affords some Suits of comparison between the three lurches, so far as any auch comparison is practicable. I know it will interest many in Otago:— Established. Free. TJ.P. Auvunt. raised f >rall pu-p: «c-> by .'ollto t">m, coutributi na.&c. .. .. £384.106 £565,105 £406,204 Raised fur Foreigu Missions .. .. £19/96 £21,686 £42,872 Sunday S»boo!s .. No. 1,856 No. 1,885 No. 849 SuncUy scholars on roll No. 170,297 N0.178.512 No. 79,101 Buud«y School Teachers .. ..No. 16,134 No 15,316 No. 10,281

It is necessary to state that the statistics of the Established Church are incomplete, owing to it not being compulsory on the part of the parishes, &c., to furnish the returns ask-.-d for. Thus the first grind total is made up from the returns of 1246 out of 1334 churches, chapels, end stations, while the Sunday school returns for 86 parishes are also not reported. The Sustentation Fund of the Free Church amounted to L 172.641, being an increase for the year of L 6194. If the amount had been JL.5000 more, or if the number of ministers had remained the same as last year, this would have allowed of the^ declaration of a dividend of L2OO to all ministers entitled to the larger surplus. The total income of the Church for the year, as abort; stated, was L 565,195, being an increase of L 30.700 during the twelve months. The ministers of the Church now number 1059.

The total income (L 406.204) of the United Presbyterian Church, although about L7OOO less than in 1875, really exhibits a large increase, as the Church lost 98 congregations, with nearly a tenth of its entire membership, by the union of the Presbyterian Churches in England last year. The number of congrega tions on the Synod's roll hi December, 1876, was 526, and the average ministerial stipend was L 253 14s 6d, though there are still 152 stipends under L2OO, and 13 under the former minimum of L 157 10s.

I was present in the Free Church Assembly on May 31st, when the report of the Colonial Committee *vas brought forward. • There was but a thin House, and the reverend fathers and brethren, among whom (through the influence of a. friend) I found myself seated, paid very little heed to the speeches, but talked array to each other in a way which was the reverse of polite, and made it difficult to hear what was said. The students' gallery, too, was nearly empty, and everything indicated that but little interest was taken in the colonies — a marked contrast to the crowded and attentive audience which, three nights before, listened to the addresses from delegates from the heathen mission field. The Rev. R. G. Balfour, of Edinburgh, Convener of the Colonial Committee, made »■ powerful appeal to the students and younger ministers to go out to supply the clamant needs of the colonies, but I fear his words are not likely to meet with any response. The Committee's report stated that there were last year sent by it to the colonies, six minis ter, four probationers, and seven lay evangelists. The income of the Committee during the year (including a balance from 1875 of L 362) was L 8444, and the expenditure L 4553. A great lock-out of shipwrights took place on the Clyde on May 19th, in consequence of the demand of the men for increased wages. Many thousands of men are thus without employment, and their numbers seem likely to be increased rather than diminished, as both sidee are obstinate, and contracts daily draw near completion. This lock-out will do the Clyde ship-building trade much harm, for it has already suffered much from the competition of the Tyne, which during the last year has outstripped tno northern river in the matter of the building of steamships. In Fife and Clackmannan some thousands of coal miners are locked out, and trade in the east suffers heavily in consequence. It was dull enough before, without any such additional depressing influence, I am sure. H.M. gunboat F'irt, with a supply of provisions, seeds, &c, for the inhabitants of St. Eilda, arrived there on May 12th, at 9 30 p.m. The day being a Saturday, and the inhabitants seeing that the stores could not be landed without encroaching on the Sabbath, refused to have .\nythirig to do with them until the Monday morning, Neither the pressure of their net-1 nor the probability that the Flirt might be driven by btress of weather from her "insecure anchorage off the islet availed to shake their "letermination. They said tii >y would tn:-* G">l to give them favnura^ . weather ull^l t Lw Munduy, and their faith was not disappointed. As scon as the Sabbath waa over the male inhabitants, beaded by the (Free

Church) minister, came down to the beach in a body and assisted in landing the stores, for which they expressed much gratitude. The conduct of the islanders on this occasion was subsequently warmly commended at a break fast of tbe Sabbath Alliance of Scotland by Dr Begg, who spoke of their having set "a noble example to the people of Scotland, and to the vrhole world," and the Alliance resolved to frame and forward a resolution to the St. Kildians, commending them for "the noble stand they had made against the landing of provisions on their island on Sunday." I spoke in my last of the extraordinary bleak weather we had been enduring throughout AotU. The meteorological returns since published show that the wind during that month was "more persistently from the eastward than was ever before chronicled for any month of the year." What that means, let those who have experienced the east winds of Edinburgh strive shiveringly to realise. The curator of the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens reports thai the season is the most backward one known for 28 years. Only last week, on May 29th, there was a fall of snow over most of the north of Scotland, and the Grampians were as white as in winter. Copious rains, however, have fallen, and h<»ve saved the stock on the eastern pastures from starvation, though in some districts the loss in the lambing has been as high as 70 and 80 per cent. The Rev. Dr Arnot, who had been minister of the High Church in St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh, since 1843, died on May 15, after a prolonged illness, at the age of 74. He was the son of a farmer at Scoonie, near Levea, and was a man of much artistic taste and some poetic feeling, but was quite out > of his proper place as a minister. He was chiefly known as Chaplain of *.he Grand Lodge of Freemasons in Scotland.— On May 21 died the Rev. Dr Cochrane, of Cupar-Fife, another well-known minister of the Established Church. He waa born at Alloa in 1805, and was private secretary to Dr Chalmers before the Disruption. At that date he was promoted from the second to the first charge at Cupar, in succession to Dr Cairns, now of Melbourne, who " went out." Dr Cochrane was a most zealous parish minister, and was also an energetic controversialist, unsparing in his opposition to all innovations. In private life, he was much liked and respected, his hospitality aid general warm-heartedness being proverbial. --Mr Bentley-Innes, of Thrumster, near Wick, died by his own hand in London on May 26th. He rose from the breakfast table, apparently in his usual health and spirits, went into his bedroom, and there deliberately shot himself with a pistol. The estate of Thrumster came to him with his wife, who was the only daughter of the proprietor, and on marrying her, the gentleman whosa untimely end I have chronicled added her name of Innes to his own of Bentley. He had a share in s brewing business and owned a township, both in Yorkshire. The first sod of a new dock and branch railway line connecting it with the Leven and East of Fife Railway was lurued at Leven on May 31st, by Captain Christie, of Durie, the lord of the maner. The dock wilj. be in the part of the town known as the Haugh, above the present harbour, and will have a basin space of two acres, with a mile of quayage. The trade of Leven is rapidly increasing, and with the facilities afforded by the new woiks, it is hoped the town will become a place for the export of coal, like Burntisland, though from the poor entrance to its harbour and its detached position, it can never become a rival to the latter port. The Old Nursery Spinning Mill, situated on the soutb bank of the Clyde at Glasgow, and owned by Messrs John Somerville and Sons, cotton spinners, was very largely injured by fire on May 17 th. The cost of the damage done is estimated at fully L 50,000, but it is covered by insurance. Nearly 200 persons, chiefly women, have been thrown out of employment by the fire. — Another and still more serious fire took place at the shipbuilding yard of Messrs T. Wingate and Co., Whiteinch, Partick, on Sunday, May 13th. The loss is estimated at about LBO,OOO, which is about equally distributed over machinery and plant, and patterns. The misfortune has thrown out of employment 400 men who would not have been affected by the lock-out. The origin of the fire is a mystery. 1 ho following anecdote, related by the Scotch i correspondent of the Pictorial World, may afI ford instructive reading to those persons in | Otago — and I know there are some of them to I be found there -who seek to stop an editor's pen by stopping their paper : — " The other day I & prominent citizen of a provincial town in thi3 : country, disagreeing with the treatment of a I local question by one of the newspapers, stopped his paper. But the editor, who also happened to be the proprietor, was fully equal to the occasion. In his next issue he published his 'irate friend's' letter, subjoined a scathing paragraph, aud put his paper in mourning !" A remarkable find of ancient coins has been made on the estate of Monitraive, near Cupar, the property of Mr Allan Gilmour. The dis covery wad made by some lahourers while digging a drain, and it consisted of a metal pot containing upwards of 9000 silver coins, most of which are of the size of a sixpence, but some as big as a florin. They belong chiefly to the reigns of Robert 11., Robert 111., and David 11. The pot was only 10 inches below the surface when found. This is said to be the largest collection of, coins which has ever been disinterred in Scotland.

At a special meeting of the Committee of the Theological Hall of the Scottish Congregational Union, it was resolved to appoint Dr W. Lindsay Alexander, Edinburgh, to the chair of Systematic Theology, and the general superintendence of the institution. Miss Baxter, of Ellangowan, has promised LIO,OOO towards the endowment of the chair, the salary attached to which will be L6OO per annum. Dr Alexander has accepted the post offered to him. Partick parish church has come in for a windfall, the late Mrs Graham Gilbert having left L7OOO for the rebuilding of the church, besides L3OOO for the better endowment of the charge, and a sum jf L2OOO, the interest upon which is to be given to the pcor of the parish. There has lately been an epidemic ot robberies on the laxly-governed system of the North British Railway. The extent to which thieving has been indulged in may be imagined from the fact that there are at present no less than twenty of the Company's employes in custody on charges of stealing goods in transit over one portion of the railway alone, viz., that between Galashiels and Ricc?.rton.

The purchaser of the late Mr Robert Napier's shipbuilding yard and engineering works at Gcvan and Lancefield, proves after all to be Mr A. C. Kirk, who has for some years been manager for Messrs Elder and Co. Mr Kirk, who is a brother of the well known Dr Kirk, of Zanzibar, is associated with other gentlemen in this venture, and the works will pass into the hands of the new company at the November term at latest.

The Aberdeen3hire Prison Board, which met for the first time on May 23rd, encountered a somewhat unusual difficulty at the outset. jThe Governor of the Aberdeen prison reported that there was no "implement" wherewith the punishment of whipping could be inflicted, no case c.llitig for the use of such an article hay ing occurred for 18 years. He further reported that he had been unable to get anyone to un-

dertake the duties of whipper, though he had offered a fee of' ss for each case. A good deal of amusing discussion took place, ending in the governor being instructed to submit a niraiher of birch rods to the Sheriff, who would choose the one likely to be most effectual : and he was also directed to continue his efforts to secure a whipper in case the services of such a person should be required. The term "flitting" haa revealed the scarcity of dwelling-house accommodation at Galashiels, ihe population of which is now estimated at 14,000, an increase of 40 per cent, since the last census. This is the more remarkable as trade there is dull, and no new f actoriea have been erected for a year past. The Marquis of Lome is reported to be engaged on a metrical translation of the Psalms of David, the metres being varied and suited to popular tunes. As for his wife, the Princess Louise, it was stated at the annual breakfast of the Uniied Presbyterian Church Ministers' Total Abstinence Society, held in Glasgow on May 16th, that she had lately joined a Temperance Society. This is probably the Church of England Temperance Society, a body which enjoys the favour of the two Archbisnops and other dignitaries of the Church. Its members are not necessarily total abstainers, and they seem to have taken up the temperance question as a pleasant divertissement, but of practical work the Society has hitherto accomplished nothing. Arrangements are stated to be nearly completed for the purchase by the Queen of the forest of Ballochbuie, which adjoins her estate of Balmoral. She has for some years rented it from its owner, Colonel Farquharson, of Invercauld, at an annual rental of LISOO. The forest contains the largest natural grown firs in Scotland.

A public park presented to the town by the late Mr Brodie, accountant, w»3 opened with public demonstrations of joy at Paisley on May 26. The park is situated at High Carriagehill, on the south side of the town, and covers 22 acres. The value of the gift is estimated at about L 16.000, and the Town Council has expended about L2BOO during the past year in laying out and ornamenting the park. 15,000 persons were present at the opening ceremony. The Greenock Advertiser, which was established in 1802, came out as an afternoon paper on 2Gth May. Another Greenock item is that at a. special collection for the liquidation of the debt on the building taken at the Free Middle Church on May 13th, the amount obtained was LBBS 8s 6|d. The Earl of P»rth is in the Bankruptcy Court, with liabilities amounting to L 16,000. The amount of his assets ia not stated.