25th of that month, the General Assembly met in the New Tolbooth, Edinburgh. Besides "Ministers and Commissioners, Barons, Burgesses, and Gentlemen in great number,' there were present "James Duke of Chatelerault, Archibald Earl of Argyle, James Earl of Murray, James Earl of Morton, Alexander Earl of Glencairn, Wiliam Earl Marischal, William Maitland of Lethington, Secretary; Sir John Wishart of Pittarrow, Comptroller; Sir John Bannatyne of Achnoull, Justice-Clerk; the Superintendents of Angus, Lothian, Fife, and the West; Alexander, styled Bishop of Galloway, and Adam, Bishop of Orkney. The exhortation was made by Mr John Willock."

At the opening of the Assembly, the Ministers petitioned for more liberal stipends; and, according to Simson, (in his Annals of the Scottish Church,) represented tithes as the seamless garment of Christ, and not to be divided, without incurring the guilt and danger of sacrilege. Their petitions, however, were treated with contemptuous opposition by the Nobles, and those who had parted this garment among themselves, and a scene of angry and disgraceful invective ensued. When the tumult had in some measure subsided, Knox demanded the judgment of the Assembly in reference to his conduct in warning the friends of the reformed religion to repair to Edinburgh on the day when Cranstoun and Armstrong were to be put upon their trial. He pleaded that he had the same authority for doing what he had done, in this matter, as he had for preach ing the doctrines of the Reformation; and declared, that, if his conduct was not justified, he would feel himself bound to retire from all the duties of the Ministry. The Assembly, however, found that he had formerly received a special commission to convene the members of the Church, when any danger should appear, and therefore acknowledged the summoning of the Reformers as their own act, and acquitted Knox of all blamevery much to the disappointment of the Queen and her party, who had thought that his conduct would have been condemned both by the Council and the Assembly.

Hitherto, the business of the Church had been managed without a President. But the heat which was displayed in the preliminary discussions of this Assembly seems to have shewn the propriety of some arrangement of this kind; and it was agreed, that, "for avoiding confusion in reasoning, a Moderator sould be appointed to moderate during the time of everie Assemblie." This honourable duty during this Assembly was devolved on Mr John Willock, Superintendent of the west.

The First Session was occupied by the trial of the Superintendents. In the Buik of the Universal Kirk, the proceedings of the Second Session are altogether omitted; but it appears from Calderwood, that they were of the same kind as those of the First.

In the Third Session, complaints were lodged against several persons, in different parts of the country, for saying mass; and the Justice Clerk required the particulars to be au thenticated and delivered to him, that he might call the accused to trial. It was also ordained, that the petitions of Ministers, relative to the payment of their stipends, should be given into their respective Superintendents, to be presented by them to the Lords of Secret Council; and that supplication should be made that every Minister have his stipend assigned to him in the bounds where he served; and that the provisions of the Act anent Manses and Glebes should be made more plain and explicit. Those who were in possession of tithes were urged to remit them to the labourers, for a reasonable composition in money or victual. Several of the Nobility and Barons, who were present, professed their. willingness to do so; but the final adjustment of the measure was deferred; and, in the mean time, the Superintendents were enjoined to "travel" with all who held tithes in tack, for a remission or composition in behalf of the tenants. These exertions were honourable to the humanity and patriotism of the Ministers.

In the Fourth Session, a committee was named to revise the Book of Discipline, and report to the next Assembly, or to the Parliament, if it should meet in the interval. From this appointment, Keith is anxious

to infer (Book III., p. 529) that the authority of the Book of Discipline was not yet fully established: but the intention of the Committee was, not to question, but to confirm its authority; and the appointment of this committee is cited by Calderwood as an evidence that the Book of Discipline was all along recognised by the Assembly.

In this Session, Mr Andrew Johnston prayed that the sentence pronounced by the late Archbishop of St. Andrew's against him and his brother, for alleged heresies, should be removed. In consequence of this sentence, he had been deprived of his patrimony, and reduced to poverty. The Assembly readily granted his request, and ordained the Superintendent of Lothian, with the assistance of the Session of Edinburgh, to take the necessary steps for carrying it into effect.

John Baron, Minister of Gaston, having complained that his wife, Anne Goodacker, had deserted him, and fled to England, the Assembly ordained letters to be written to the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, requesting them to cause edicts to be proclaimed, in either of their bounds, or personal citation to be executed against the said Anne, that she should appear before the Superintendent of Lothian, and the Session of the Kirk of Edinburgh, within sixty days.

The parishioners of Calder repeated their complaint of being deprived of the ministrations of their pastor, since he had been appointed Superintendent, and required that he should either demit the office of Superintendent, or the parsonage of Calder. The Assembly judged the answer which was formerly given to this complaint to be sufficient, viz. that in the present scarcity of Ministers, the general interest of the Church could not be sacrificed to that of a single parish.

In the Fifth Session, David Rae, Minister of Forrest, who seems to have been too personal in his pulpit addresses, compeared, and was admonished to "observe a decent order in doctrine, without inveying otherwise than the text sal require."

The following Act anent Residence deserves notice. "Forsameikle as

Ministers, Exhorters, and Reidars, remain not at the Kirks quher their Charge lyes, bot dwell in Townes farre distant frae the saids Kirks, quher throw the peiple want the continuall comfort quhilk their daylie presence sould give, be mutuall conference of the Minister with the Flocke; Heir for the Kirk ordanes the Ministers, Exhorters, and Reidars, having Mansis to dwell in, that they make Residence at the same, and visite the seik as they may; and, quher the parcchin is large, that the Minister crave the support of the Eldars and Deacons to help him in the said visitation."

Under the head "Of Burial,” in the First Book of Discipline, the Reformers gave their opinion against singing or reading at the grave, and also against funeral sermons, as tending to superstition and inconvenience. But while they discharged all ceremonies which had been formerly used, they ordained that the dead should be "committed to the grave with such gravity and sobriety, as those that be present may seeme to fear the judgment of God, and to hate sin, which is the cause of death." For the burial of the poor, it was ordained, in this Session, that, in every landward parish, a bier should be provided, and that the family in which the person had died, with their immediate neighbours, or some out of every family, should convey the corps to the grave, which was to be six feet deep.

The Scottish Reformers enforced, with almost primitive strictness, the discipline of the Church against offences which called for public repentance and in this Assembly several regulations were made to prevent the possibility of avoiding the censures of the Church.

In the Sixth Session, four women were delated for witchcraft, by the Superintendents of Fyfe and Galloway. But the Assembly devolved the matter upon the Privy Council. It was ordained in this Session, "That everie Superintendent, within his bounds, sould cause a Collection to be made for six brethren taken at Rouen, and detained in the galleys for want of ransom." The Earl of Glencairn was requested to concur with the Superintendent of the West,

in visiting the Hospital of Glasgow. Commissions were renewed for a year to several Ministers to plant Kirks in their respective districts. The remainder of the Session was occupied with cases of discipline. Robert Ramsay, in the district of Angus, was accused of entering into the ministry without election of the people, or admission of the Superintendent-of affirming that there was a mid-way between the Popish and reformed religion, and of borrowing money from the town of Inverness, to buy books, and not returning it. He was, in the mean time, suspended from the ministry, and ordained to compear at St. Andrew's on the 19th of January, before the Superintendent of Fife, who was to take farther trial of his case. Thomas Duncanson, Schoolmaster and Reader in Stirling, who had committed

fornication, was ordained, although he had made public repentance, to abstain from his office of Reader till the Church of Stirling made suit to the Superintendent, who should present their suit to the next Assembly. In like manner, Alexander Jarden, Minister of Kilspindie, Inchture, and Raitt, who had committed fornication, although he had married the woman and satisfied the Church, was suspended from all function in the Ministry, till next Assembly. In addition to these cases, Petrie (Century XVI., p. 242,) mentions the appointment of a Committee of five Ministers, to take cognition of the complaint made against George Lesly, Minister of Strathmiglo, and to notify their sentence to the Superintendent of Angus. But the nature of the complaint is not specified.

SIR,

It has often occurred to me, that the manifest advantages which have already resulted, not only to the lower orders, but to the community at large, from the School of Arts in Edinburgh, ought to have induced those possessed of sufficient influence to attempt the establishment of similar institutions in a number of our manufacturing towns. In such a country as this, where the class of mechanics and tradesmen, of every description, is particularly numerous, their instruction becomes a matter of moral, if I may so speak, as well as of national importance. A wellregulated institution, upon the simple, though singularly efficient plan of a School of Arts, is peculiarly fitted for the accomplishment of that end; and it is unnecessary, therefore, to be so particular here in explaining what I conceive to be the best scheme of interual management of such institutions, as in shewing the mere practicability of establishing them in

various provincial and manufacturing towns in Scotland.

The main difficulty that generally occurs, in forming plans of amelioration of any sort, is the want of pecuniary means to carry them into effect. This difficulty, in the case of which I am about to speak, is certainly, at first sight at least, a formidable one; for many of the manufacturing towns, in which it would be peculiarly desirable to disseminate scientific knowledge, are so small, and, except in so far as their manufactures are concerned, so inconsiderable, that it would evidently be preposterous to suppose that each of them could, independently, support its own institution. The expence, even of the apparatus necessary for performing scientific experiments, independently altogether of the Lecturer's salary, would be greater, perhaps, than such towns could be expected readily to defray.

The only other plan, therefore,

which seems at all practicable, and the one which it is the purpose of this paper to recommend, would be to class several neighbouring towns together, each contributing to purchase apparatus for their common use, and appointing one or more Lecturers to deliver the same series of lectures in the institution of each town successively.

In this way, a Lecturer with very ordinary activity, but with the necessary qualifications, of course, could easily deliver at least three or four courses of lectures in the year. There would be a difficulty, it is true, in transporting the apparatus from one town to another, but this difficulty could also be overcome; it would, in fact, resolve into a matter of mere skilful packing. What ought to be considered in the first place, therefore, is simply the best mode of getting different towns to unite in attempting such an experiment; and the first thing likely to induce them to do so, will be a satisfactory exposition of the practical means of carrying such experiment into effect.

I would not propose, then, that there might be such a variety of subjects treated of in provincial institutions as in the Edinburgh School of Arts. One Lecturer, indeed, would be sufficient for an institution. The course of lectures, for the first year, might, with advantage perhaps, be devoted exclusively to the elucidation of the simple principles of Natural and Mechanical Philosophy; and this department, I doubt not, would be found sufficiently extensive to engage the student's attention, and occupy the whole of his spare time during that course. But in case it were thought that a little more variety would be of advantage to the student, a Lecturer could be found, I should think, combining qualifications to treat various scientific and philosophical subjects on particular evenings; for instance, he might with advantage treat on the principles of Arithmetic, Algebra, or Geometry.

This course being finished at the first town, the Lecturer would then have only to repeat the same series of lectures to a class in the neighbouring town, and so on till he had completed a circuit of the towns in the district. Next year he might enter upon a

different course- -upon Chemistry, for example, and treat occasionally the subjects he had handled the year preceding, both in order to prepare the new students for such subjects, when, in a subsequent year, he came to lecture upon them exclusively, and also to refresh the memory of such students as had heard these subjects enlarged upon the year before. This course, after being repeated at the three or four towns comprehended in the district, would finish his labours for the second year. In the third, he might make the principles of Arithmetic, Algebra, and Geometry, the main topics of his lectures; again rendering Natural Philosophy, and also Chemistry, subordinate to that course; and in that year he might likewise explain the more obvious principles of Astronomy.

In the fourth year, it would be time to resume his lectures on the subjects with which he commenced, namely, Natural and Mechanical Philosophy. And I may here remark, that besides the new students which would join his class this year, he might safely count upon the attendance of many of those who had studied Chemistry and Arithmetic, &c., in the two preceding years. Thus a constant, though gradual, change of the students in his class would take place.

This, then, is an outline of what appears to me to be a most simple plan for establishing throughout the kingdom institutions of a nature which I doubt not would, ere long, prove invaluable to the country. I have stated the plan in its simplest form, that it may the more readily strike the mind of the reader; and the very circumstance that it is obviously susceptible of great improvement, goes so far to recommend the adoption of its principles, at least.

As to the expence of supporting such institutions, the gross fees received from the students in the different towns (after defraying the expense of apparatus) would, I should suppose, amount, at a very moderate calculation, to fifty pounds at least; and three or four towns would be miserably poor and destitute of public spirit indeed could they not, by their united efforts, add to that sui eighty or a hundred pounds mcle.