SECOND DAY—TUESDAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1916, 30 October 1890, Page 15

SECOND DAY— TUESDAY.

The Presbyterian Synod of Otsgo and Southland resumed business in the First Church this morning, the Rev. A. M. Finlayson (moderator) being in the chair. AN ASSOCIATE. After devotional exercises, the Roy. C. K. Dickson, of Temnka (who was present) was introduced to the synod, and it was decided that he should be associated with them in their business. THE STATE OF RELIGION. The Rev. Dr Watt read tha report of the committee on the state of religion, which contained the following clauses ;— Your committee have not Issued their usual schedule of queries this year, considering that the religious situation remains very much what it has been for some time past. All Christian churches have to deplore the large extent to whioh men and women in our day have lapsed from attendance on Christian ordinances This drift is not taking place in a oorner— we have the best authority for believing that it covers, in varying degrees, the whole field of English-speaking Protestantism. From special reasons, we in the colonies feel the pressure of this evil more keenly than they do in the old lands. We find iv this colony outside of our churches multitudes who had been brought up in Christian homes, who had been members of the church in the Old country, but who have completely severed their connection with the church since comingito the colony, except perhaps to the »Hght extent that their children attend our Sabbath schools. This mass o( Ice outside cannot exist without exercising a refrigerating Influence on those who are inside our churches, aud very seusibly lowering their spiritual temperature. It Vould be easy to exaggerate tha gravity of the evil, great though that unquestionably is. Theextent to which the doctrine of religious toleration is put Into practice 'In our time, the complete immunity from unpleasant consequences with which man may now avow themselves to be of any shade of religious belief, or of no religious belief at all— mors complete now in Great Britain than it was 50 years ago, more complete in the colonies than it is even in Great Britain— have enoouraged many, once retained in a nominal connection with the ohurches by some form of the fear of man, to renounce their feigned submission to Christ, and to sever their oonneetion with His Church which was never a willing one on their side. In reality we do not believe that the Ohurch of Christ is weakened by the open secession of this mixed multitude. We are persuaded that the number of her effective members was 'never larger ttian it is to-day. We may no doubt find some explanation of this drift from religious ordinances .of which we complain, and which Is so general, in the fact that the extraordinary progress made la soienoe and disoovery within the last century has secularised men's minds, and thrown the balo of a fresh interest around the world and the preient life. Men are on the gui viva for new developments in this material progress to which they foresee no end. They are looking forward to the complete lifting off of tha dark shadow in which sin has enveloped the world — the perfect obliteration of the stamp of vanity Imprinted on the face of the oreafcion. They are hoping to hear at any moment of the discovery of the lost tree of life that they may eat therefrom and live for ever. At present the preaohsr of the Go9pel, culling the attention of men to another world, is like a voice crying in the wilderness—he is speaking to men who listen to him impatiently, with their minds preoccupied with the endless possibilities of hope and happiness in the present world. Of oourse thiß cannot last for long. Disillusion must come. Men will waken up to realise how little material progress, when it has been carried to the highest conceivable pitch, can do to satisfy the yearnings and aspirations of man's spiritual nature ; and then, with.the ends of the earth drawn together, and all nations brought into intimate contact, we may look for a revived interest in religion, such as has never been exhibited hitherto, and whioh will sweep like a great wave all over the globe. Meanwhile the church must keep the altar fires of religion burning in the night. Your committee would beg to make the following limple recommendations with the view of improving the state of religion among ourselves : — 1. Ministers ought to aim at setting forth the personal, historical Christ as plainly as possible in their preaching. The style of preaching whioh was to successful in the bands of the first evangelists was a simple nnrration of what Christ had said or done, with such explanation and practical application of it to the hearers ns the case p»rmitted of. These men mAte Jesni live and speak again before their hearers. We believe that more and more must tho great theme of the pulpit, of the future be. not the d"C r'nal Christ of theology, b>if, the personal Christ of tho Go9pel story, realised by men as the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, the over living advocate and friend of sinners, present with his sympathy aud healing grace wherever, alt the world over, two or three are gathered together in his name. 2. Preacher* of the Q-oBpHl must lay more stresi on the raeanß of grace than they have been in the habit of doing of late years. Tho evangelical movement in the end of the last and the beginning of this century w»9 a great revival of religion. It insisted on the new birth ; it taught men who were thronging the churches, and crowding to the sacrament in the belief that it was an opus operation, that to obey Is better than sacrifice. The message of the movement was as appropriate to the formalism of the tlrnesa* Christ's strong denunciation of the ritualism of His day. But when a totally different state of things prevails, when the house of God Is forsaken, and when large numbers are in danger of neglecting the table of the Lord, if not even of regarding it as contemptible, the preacher who goes on repeating parrot-line the watchwords of the old evangelicalism has not understanding to^discern the signs of Jlhe times. The church of our day must hark buck to thft position taken up by the Westminster divines, who, in answer to the question, What doth God require of us to escape hi* wrath and ourse due to us for sin T were not satisfied with replying God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ and repentance unto life, but added to these two a third thing — nam»ly, a diligent me of all the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ oommunlcntoth to us the benefits of redemption, which means they afterwards explain to be chiefly the word, sacraments, and prayer. The church must impress upin her memhars more than iha has been doing of late years, that Gorl must be sought in ordinances in which He has put His name, and in whioh He has promised to bo found, and to bestow His blessing on all who earnestly seek Him. And Christian men must make a conscience nutter of attendance upon ordiuancea ; attending not dimply when they are in tho mood, but attending whether they are in the mood or not, ifirring themselvei up to lay hold upon God, making inclination wait upon duty, and nob duty upon inclination,

3. The Christian laity must waken up to their responsibilities towards their non-ohurehgoing friends and neighbours. The minister is hampered in his effort to invite men to attend the preaching of the Q-ospel by the feeling, of which ho finds it difficult I o rid himeelf , that there i» a flavour of egotism about such invitations given by one who is himself the preacher, But Christian laymen are not amenable to any such suspicion of unworthy motives when they invite persons with whom they transact business, and with whom they are on friendly relations, to unite with them in worshipping their common Maker. There is no doubt but a gentle j reminder would sometimes suffice to determine many a man to abandon a neglect of Gospel ordinances, into which he has fallen through carelessness, and for which his own conscience must be condemning him. We believe that it would prove an extraordinary blessing to many a district if Christian laymen banded themselves together, under the name of parish guilds or some similar designation, with the direct object of bringing a little kindly pressure to bear on non-churchgoers to Induce them to resume their places in the house of God whioh they have forsaken. Persons composing such guilds would need not only to be earnest, but to ba patient and wise. 4. Parents should graap the reins of family government more tightly than we have good reason for blleving they are in the habit of doing. A wretched individualism has orept into modern religious life, in virtue of which the father thinks that he ought to leave hi* children to decide for themselves points of duty whioh he, as the father, ought to decide for them. Many parents who are religious people themselves, consider ir. too great an Interference with the liberty of conscience of their children to bring pressure to bear upon them, when they have come to mature years, to join the church, and thereby take over upon themselves the vowb their parents assumed on their behalf when they were infants. We have heard of parents allowing their children to select the Sabbath ichool they attend, and evon the congregation with ■which they unite in worship -a different congregation from that to which the parents themselves belong. Nothing but evil c*n come from domestic anarchy of this kind. The solidarity of the family, its unity of action ought to be maintained in its worship of God as well as in all its secular relations. Thn parent should distinctly interpose the authority God has given him, and decide all such questions for bis children till they come of age, when they must be left to act for themselves with the help of such friendly CDuniel as they are willing to accept. Christian parents should not only be priests in their own households, like Job; like Abraham, they should be kings there as well. 5 Christians must aim more and more at settling their differences in the spirit of brotherly love. The bitter controversies between rival denominations which have converted the vineyard of Christ into a great field of battle. The ncrlmonions discussions and bandied personalities of ecclesiastical courts ; the fierce quarrels over paltry issues which rend congregations into hostile camps, from which the respective Inmates breathe out threatenings and slaughter against one another, must cease. Quarrels, like offences, must come, but if a Ohristinn brother should so far forget himself as to commit an aot of wanton aggression, why should not the aggrieved brother quietly suffer wrong, rather than make sport to the Philistines by clamouring to the universe of the wrong done to him ? In introducing the report, the Rev. Dr Watt said, with reference to the recommendation about preaching, he thought that there was a great deal to be said for it. He felt that theology had lifted Christ tip very much to the clouds, and made Him' unreal, and he should like Him more and more to be broughc down to the solid ground, and represented as the historical Christ. He also thought that the church must hark back to the standpoint that the Westminster Confession advocated, and that its ministers must insist more than they had been doing, not only on conversion, bat on the necessity of attendance at religious services as a means of grace. A great deal could be done by the Christian laity which the ministers Gould not do to bring their friends and neighbours to church ; and employers could also do more than they were doing in the way of seeing that their employes and their families attended public worship. I The Rev. Mr Chisholm moved the following deliverance :— " Adopt the report ; approve iof the diligence of the committee, especially the convener ; instruct ministers to bring the report in a special way before their congregations, and affectionately press its recommendations upon their earnest attention." He thought the report was one of the most admirable that had ever been submitted to the synod, and he would cake the opportunity at some future time of reading it to his congregation, as it was much better than a sermon of his own. ' < The Rev. Mr Will seconded the deliverarice. He thought that the report should be brought before all the congregations of the church. He believed it would be difficult to preach a better sermon. The Rev. Mr Bannerm&n took exception) to the clause of the report referring to parents bringing pressure to bear on their children' to join the churph, and take over upon themselves the vows their parents assumed on their behalf when they were infants. He desired to kqow when it was that parents became responsible for their infants, by taking upon themselves vows on their behalf, He maintained that parents at baptism took vows upon themselves in connection with their own duty, but did not take npon themselves vows on behalf of their infants, as was taught in the report. The doctrine taught in the report was not Christian doctrine, and he, therefore, moved that the clause in question be deleted from the report. It was suggested that the words "on behalf of" should be altered to " in connection with," so as to settle the matter. The Rev. Mr Watt said that he meant what was indicated by the suggestion. The Rev. Mr Bannermann : That is a very different truth to what you state. The Rev. Dr Stuart thought the report an admirable one, but he should have liked if it had informed the synod what was done throughout the different parishes for the promotion and maintenance of religion. What ho would like particularly to kuow was what his brethren were doing for the purpose of bringing the young people under the means of grace. As regarded church attendance in Otago, he did not think it was worse than church attendance in Scotland, but rather better. The Rev. Mr Sutherland, of the Taieri, disseuted from the remarks made by Mr Bannerman. He had been taught the view which was declared in the paragraph, to which Mr Bannerman took exception from his earliest infabcy, and he believed it to be quite scriptural. The Rev. Mr Feaseh said he had been a good deal among the lapsed masses, and he found that the reason that they did not attend public worship was that they were disgusted with the churches. In referring to Mr Watt's remarks with reference to employers trying to induce their employes to attend church, he said the reason that many employes did not attend church was that they had to work on Sundays. He thought that the Bynod should make representations to the Government, to tramway companies, and to those syndicates who employed labour on Sundays not to do so. If they were doing their duty they would certainly make some alteration with regard to working on Sundays, but so long as they did not do anything in the matter what was the use of their moaning about it. After some further discussion the deliverance wag adopted, and it was resolved that a number of copies of the report be printed for oirculation.

Evening Sederunt. the confession of faitet. The following report of the committee on the Confession Faith, w%s si^bo^itted to the synod :—

I Your committee was appointed last year to continue and complete the work assigned to the committee by the previous synod, and to take notice j of similar movements in other ohurches. In regard to the former part of thei>e instructions, a aeriea of propnsa's were laid before the committee at its first meeting in February by Ur Macgregor with reference to the following alleged difficulties :—: — 1. As to limitation of the Gospel offer of salvation to this life. 2. As to the destiny of Infants and heathens. 3. As to the warrant of the present Gospel offer of salvation to all men. At its Becond meetiDg in August, Dr Maogregor read a statement bearing upon these difficulties, and moved for its adoption and transmission to tho synod, but the committee, by a majority of 11 to 2, resolved to receive the statement and keep it in retentis. The committee have, therefore, nothing to report under the first part of its instructions beyond what was contained in the report submitted last year, and which lies on the synod's table. In pursuanoe of the second part of IU instructions, tha convener communicated with authorities in the Free Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Church in the United States, but the official Information received has been of a very meagre kind. It is well known, however, that both these churches are serlouslyocoupled with this same business. Your committee have deemed it expedient to 'postpone consideration of tho matter remitted to them till one or other of tho»e churches have oome to a definite finding on the revision of the Confession, and recommend the continuance of the committee. The Rev. Dr Dunlop, the convener of the committee, in speakiug to the report, said he believed the synod wouli give the committee entire credit for acting in this matter with the hi«h and commendable intention of promoting the best interests both of the church and of truth. It was not the aim of the committee as a whole, or of any member of it, to do anything which might appear great in a certain way, but which might lead to hurtful consequences. Their one object had been to advise to the best of their ability the church wisely in this matter. The report had at least this merit : it was thoroughly intelligible as to the main substantive recommendation which it contained, and it was also thoroughly intelligible as to the motive and aim which had prompted the committee. As to the recommendations, these were of a negative kind. The committee did not propose that the consideration of this subject should be completely suspended. They wished to keep the subject before the minds of members of the church ; but to do so in a particular way, and that not in the way of active agitation, for they believed that that would be huriful to the best interests of the church, and would not conduce to a wise or reasonable solution of the problem in hand. They wished, in short, that for the present that any active attempt to strike out a path for themselves should be desisted from. As a matter of fact he believed it never was the intention of this church to solve these matters by some original plan, but rather to follow in the wake of some larger churches. The committee had in that way interpreted the instructions under which it had acted, aDd he believed that the conviotion of the committee was that they were too small a church to attempt a solution of these problems, for differences arising in such a body almost inevitably generated an amount of heat which tended to take a personal direction. He had no doubt whatever that this consideration weighed with the individual members of the committee, and the conviction which had animated not a few of the committee was extremely deep that in the interests of truth and in tha interests of the church they must suspend active controversy or active agitation until they knew how those great churches, the Free Church of Scotland and the still greater church the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America, had solved the problem. What was wanted was not only a satisfactory conclusion viewed in the abstract, but that they should reach that conclusion by methods which would in the highest degree fee satisfactory in the way of carrying the sympathies and the convictions of the great mass of the ministers and officebearers of the church with it. It was also in the interests of peace, as well as of truth, that the committee advised that they should cease to actively debate the matter, and wait until they had data furnished by the ultimate decision of one or both of the churches mentioned. For himself he wished to say that he should feel safe in following in the wake of those churches, and that he had fully as much confidence in the conclusion likely to be come to by the American Church, as in that of the church to which he owed everything. The American Church was rich in talent, rich in experience ; it knew what ecclesiastical convulsions were, even more than the Free Church of Scotland ; it had had its disruptions and its alliances, and he took it the presumption was that this great church was likely to come to a conclusion in which they would be able heartily to acquiesce. The committee, however, did not say anything so absurd as that they were to pledge themselves to accept any conclusion come to ; they were Protestants, and their faith was not abject ; but still he was not ashamed to say that he would be glad to obtain the solution of this problem come to by either of the great historic churches referred to. The committee might be censured for not being preternaturally active, but the committee waa much more anxious to be wise than to be active. For his part be did not believe much in the studies of men who conducted their studies in public, and he did not believe much iv conclusions reached in angry controversy. It had long been his oonviction that it was by quiet and prayerful brooding over a subject that they were likely to come to a satisfactory conclusion in a satisfactory manner. The members of the committee he could assure the synod had thought over the matter very seriously, and the strength of the conclusion they had come to was not indicated by mere numbers, but rather by the intensity of the convictions which animated the members. The Clerk reported that the following extract of minute had been forwarded to him from the Committee on Confession of Faith : — ■Pint Church. Dunrdin Apgnsfc 20. The committee met and was constituted. Inter alia. Dr Maogregor read a statement bearing on the nibjVcb of the motions of which he gave notice at last meeting, and moved that the committee adopt the statement and transmit it to the synod. Mr Clark seconded the motion. Mr Finlayson moved aa an amendment, and Dr Watt seconded, that Dr Macjjregor's statement be reoeived and kept in retentis. The vote was taken batween Mr Finlayion's amendment and Dr Maegregor's motion, when there voted for the amendment eleven, and for the motion two. Dr Maogregor dissented and protested for leave to complain to the avnod. on the following reason : Because the oommittee have effectively refused to> inquire ai instructed by the synod. Mr Clark adhered to the d 'snout and protest. Dr Macgregor then intimated that ho withdrew from the committee. (Extract from the minutes of committee by Alex. M. Finlavson, clerk.) The Rev. Dr Maogregor, in support of the dissent lodged, read an address in which he stated that the reason why he dissented and complained against the committee receiving their statement m retenti*— -which was incisive Latin for shelving — instead of adopting it for transmission to the synod, was that the committee hkd refused to inquire into the doctrinal matters no Instructed by the synod. The onlything they had done was to refuse to obey the whurch in the matter of the one thing for which they were appointed. Instead of obedience they offered to the synod advice, which was aggravation of disobedience. The advice they gave was to wait for the wisdom of other

bhurches instead of coming to a conclusion about the subject of inquiry, but he asserted that from the very nature of the things that were appointed for inquiry it was plain that the ■wisdom of other churches could give them no light. The reason given for their not now coming to a conclusion about these matters— namely, that this church was not qualified to handle the doctrinal mattersmeant that she was imbecile to such an extent that her own committee ought to disobey her. The American and Scottish Churches were not imbecile, and if they went to them with a poor face of professed imbecility they might nob welcome their accession to their fellowship of inquiry, sought by them (the synod) as a way of shrinking from the responsibility of declaring their own mind. As complainant, he petitioned on behalf of the confession that it have the common justice of a fair trial on the Church's part. The committee had refused it the elementary justice of bringing the accused face to face with the accusers. He claimed that it was now due to the loyal adherents of the standard that the synod should declare the fact that in the two inquiry years no fault had been found in the confession, that no part of its teaching had been found at variance with God's word. But the grand question was not as to the form of words, but as to the substance of faith. Why should the church not declare what her mind was, after two years of inquiry ? The result of silence would be an impression of reticence, bearing a look of concealment, and being a symptom of something rotten in their state of doctrine. They might talk about their church being imbecile, so that she had nothing to say ; and others might think that she was disingenuous, having something to conceal. At the last meeting of the committee attended by him, after they had refused to judge and had locked up the statement, in retentis, the convener, and a member who appeared to speak for others, threw out some doubts about the statement. Their doubts or assertions thrown in at that time were the only utterances which might be supposed to be more or less representative of the committee's mind that had been emitted in all the two years, and they had greatly deepened the darkness. He appealed to the synod to provide against the perils of that evasiveness by two or three sentences of plain speaking ; the peril could be greatly augmented by silence, as the committee advised. He again charged the members of the committee with preventing inquiry ; and, continuing, said that they might be near a turning of the tide of moral and religious life in this country for generations. In view of such a possibility, perhaps,*under God and in the order of second causes, the thing that was most to be desired on earth for the community was in the present synod simply a truthfulness that in case of need would withstand men to the face who were to be blamed for not walking uprightly according to the present truth. The Rev. Mr Will said he had listened with great impatience to the severe and reiterated attacks upon the committee, and had wondered that the committee had sat quietly under an address in which they had been reflected upon personally, and in language which he considered unworthy of the floor of the synod. — (Applause.) He supposed it had been done because a great many of them had a great deal of respect for Dr Macgregor, and on account of his experience, his talent, and his learning, they had a right to expect wholesome instruction from Dr Macgregor — whether they had received that the synod could judge. At the close of the last eynod it seemed to be the general desire that they should delay the matter until they knew what the elder churches would do, and that was now the recommendation of the committee. They had been that evening told over and over again that the information was at their door and that they would not admit it, but they must all know that no decision had been come to that could serve for their help or guidance. In what respect, he asked, had the committee refused to obey the synod? Dr .Macgregor had at one of its meetings read a paper bearing somewhat on the subjects remitted to them, and without discussion he requested the committee to transmit; that paper to the synod. Was the committee appointed for that purpose ? He thought not. The committee would have discussed Dr Macgregor's motions, but he had done nothing except give notice of them, they had never been moved. The paper was held *n retentis, and could be brought up as soon as the motions came on for discussion. The speaker then referred to the definitions and illustrations published by Dr Macgregor of the doctrines of reprobation, prseterition, and the salvation of infants for the purpose of showing that there were reasons why the committee should not have accepted them. As a point of order, it was urged that the Rev. Mr Will had no right to enter upon doctrinal discussions that might lead to debates that would occupy the synod for weeks, and after this matter had been discussed, the moderator ruled that the Rev. Mr Will was out of order. The Rev. Mr Will accepted the ruling of the moderator, but maintained that he was harshly dealt with as the argument was necessary in reply to the address they had allowed Dr Mji-gregor to read. The committee had been quite willing to take Dr Macgregor's motiouß seriatim, and he believed could have shown good reasons why the explanations of doctrines he had given should not bo forwarded to the synod as a settlement of the questions involved. The Rev. Mr Gameron said the reason the questions had not been discussed was that whenever they proposed to discuss them Dr Macgregor drew from his pocket a big bundle of papers and said that he had a long statement to make regarding each of the propositions. The Rev. Mr Claejt remarked that it was the Dunedin members who had persistentlyjrefuaed to discuss the questions. The Rev. Mr Gibb suggested that this matter should be allowed to drop, as the purpose of the complaint had been probably sufficiently served, and it was advisable that they should discufs the report. This part of the discussion was allowed to lapse. The Rev. Dr Stuabt moved the following overture— •" Adopt the report; agree to the recommendation of the committee to delay further consideration of the questions relating to the Confession of Faith till the Free Church of Scotland or the Presbyterian Church of the United States shall have como to some definite finding on the subject of revision ; reappoint the committee to collect information aud, report; aud direct the report of last year to iie on the table." In speaking to tho motion, the Rev. Dr Sluarb taid that he thought very highly of the Confession ; he had been using it for 40 year 3as a very important instrument of his ministry, and he was really of the opinion that ho could continue to do so with a good conscience, and with advantage to those who submitted to be instructed and guided by him. The Confession of Faith had conferred extraordinary benefits upon the nations. Those | who had embraced it had been in the forefront of liberty— civil and religious ; and he for j one could never imagine that there were doctrines taught there that wore hostile to human progress and salvation. At the same time some people were of a different opinion ; jmd though all of the W had not learned to do so

in a spirit of reverence, it was quite reasonable that they should ask the supreme court of the church to look their difficulties in the face, and, if possible, to relieve them. When the committee met there was anything but a wish to j prevent inquiry ; but, having looked the matter in the face, they came to the conclusion that it would be best for the committee to suspend operations for a time, and for a time only. The charge that Dr Macgregor had brought against the committee was unworthy of him. It was true that the committee had not done the work they were appointed to do, but did it not often happen that work could not be done with the instruments at command ? If he had erred in judgment he would ask the synod to condone that, and that it should not pillory him as Dr Macgregor had done. He had a great dislike to' hear men who were as honourable as Dr Macgregor charged with doing what was injurious to the church. If they had made a mistake in judgment, and could not be trusted again, other men should be put in their place, but he thought himself justified in asking the synod to adopt the report, and to say that the committee had done wisely in suggesting that operations should be arrested till they learned what other chnrob.es were doing in this matter. The Rev. Mr Chisholm seconded the motion, and in doing so, said that it was with growing indignation he had listened to the speech of Dr Macgregor, and the feeling uppermost in his mind regarding it was that if it was a Christian speech he (the speaker) had yet to learn the rudiments of Christianity. He strongly advocated the adoption of the motion, and urged that the present was not the time for emphasising their difficulties on points upon which they were not agreed when there was so much upon which they were agreed — so many points regarding which they did not at all differ. For his part he would like to see a little more reverence on the one side aad a little more charity on the other. It was perhaps aa natural for old men to be prejudiced as for young men to be presumptuous ; but in Christian men the grace of God should guide and control the natural tendencies. The Rev. Mr Bannerman moved as an amendment—" That the synod receive the report, discharge the committee, and in relation to the general question of policy as to the Confession of Faith resolve to take no further action until it appears what is to be done by the Free Church of Scotland and the Northern Presbyterian Church of the American United States." The amendment, he said, differed from the motion, but was quite in harmony with the speeches made by the Rev. Dr Stuart and the Rev. Mr Chisholm. He moved for the discharge of the committee because it had been the most inconsistent committee the church had ever had engaged in any portion of its work ; because it was a onesided committee ; and because its continuance would lead to irritation. Who, he asked, was blameable for the question being before the church ? It was those who brought up the overture out of which this committee had originated who were to blame for all that had been said and done in connection with this question that had proved offensive to them or to others. The Confession of Faith was the avowed interpretation of the church of what was the teaching of Scripture, to which teaching, he reminded members, every minister at his ordination undertook to confine himself. The Rev. Mr Davidson seconded the amendment. The Rev. Mr Dalhtmplb supported the motion. Mr Adams had much objection to either motion or amendment, but said that it was never considered that the appointment of the committee should be the signal for an assault upon the standards of the church ; and, at least until the committee reported, ministers of the church were bound to be loyal to the Confession of Faifch. Mr A. C. Begg and Dr Copland supported the adoption of the amendment. The Rev. Mr Jolly spoke in support of the motion. On a division being taken there voted for Dr Stuart's motion 50, and for Mr Bannerman's motion 49, so that the motion for the reappointment of the committee was carried by a majority of one vote. The synod adjourned at 11.30 p.m.

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