ance, he thought that the best way of carrying out that suggestion would be to enjoin Presbyteries to fix a day on which all the ministers within the bounds should preach sermons on the subject.

Dr G. G. BROWN, (elder,) Aberdeen, spoke of the great mortality which occurred in the army in India from intemperance; and expressed a hope that the Church would do all in its power to discourage the drinking customs of the country.

Mr DAVID DICKSON, (elder,) Edinburgh, referred to the evils of the liquor traffic in cities and large towns, and said he belived these evils might be greatly diminished if magistrates, town councillors, and justices of the peace were more alive to the duty that rested on them, of giving their assistance for obtaining a reduction of the number of publichouses.

Mr BREMNER, Glasgow, thought that the Assembly, in considering this subject, should direct its attention to the root of the evil, and determine the important question-What should be done with the drunkardmaker? As long as it was considered quite reputable for a man to be the keeper of a dram shop, from which no good-nothing but evil-could emanate, it would be difficult for the magistrates or others to reduce the number of public-houses. So long as the keepers of what the late Mr M'Cheyne of Dundee called these "dens of iniquity and gates to hell," were received not only into full communion, but into the offices of elders and deacons of the Church, it would be very difficult to adduce any very valid argument to the magistrates or others for the suppression of these houses. A great deal might be done in the way of preventing publicans from obtaining admission into the Church. He knew ministers who found no difficulty in so dealing with the consciences of publicans, when applying for admission to the communion in their congregations, that, having had once an interview with them, they never applied again-they never came back to the kirk-session with their certificates, but were satisfied with the intercourse they had already had with the minister. When such individuals were asked whether they were serving God or a different master, in carrying on the work of a publican, and whether in the morning they could ask God to send them customers during the day, the effect was generally such that they never after that sought for admission into that minister's congregation; if that were more generally done than it is, it would keep the communion rolls of the congregations clearer than they are of such members; and if any person became a publican after being placed on the roll of membership, there were various ways, without having recourse to direct subjection to discipline, in which he might be brought to reconsider the position in which he had placed himself. He thought, on the whole, that the Church might do a great deal more than it had hitherto done for the promotion of temperance in the country; and he hoped they would soon be induced to take some more decided action in the matter.

After a few remarks from Dr LONGMUIR, the report was, along with the suggestion of Dr Candlish as to the special sermon on the subject, unanimously adopted.

APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES.

Mr KELMAN, St John's, Leith, laid on the table the report (No. XXXVI.) of the committee on committees, which was appointed at last Assembly

to consider the principle on which the standing committees of the Church are appointed.

Mr Kelman, in referring to the report, said-The subject, of which this report treats, is one of very great importance. The power which the committees wield in our Church is a great and a growing power, and therefore it is exceedingly desirable that the composition of the committees should be such that they would fairly and fully represent the general mind of the Church. The committee, whose report I now submit to the Assembly, was appointed last year to consider the principle according to which the standing committees of the Church are appointed, and to report to this Assembly. The committee have held five meetings, at which they were engaged in considering that principle, and now they beg to lay the report upon your table. The report may be said to consist of three parts. The first part gives the previous legislation on the subject; the second, the present state of matters; and the third, suggestions of improvements for the future. With respect to the present state of matters, your committee, instead of looking at the principle of appointment simply in the abstract, have dealt with it as it actually manifests itself in practice. When viewed in that aspect, the present mode of appointment appears to your committee to be liable to serious objection in two points.

First, The suggesting of names for any given committee has hitherto lain with the convener and the members of that committee. And, since this is so, it is natural that the names suggested should, generally speaking, be those of persons within the circle of their acquaintanceship, while the services of many others, who are both able and willing to render effective aid in carrying on the business of the Church, but who happen to lie beyond that circle, and are too modest to push themselves forward, are lost to the Church. Hence there has resulted a very unequal distribution of influence over the Church. Take a single example. There is in Fifeshire a Presbytery containing eight congregations, which has four of its ministers members of the Sustentation Fund committee. That small Presbytery has as many representatives on that important committee as the Presbytery of Paisley, and the Presbytery of Greenock, and the Presbytery of Stirling, and the Presbytery of Linlithgow, all together; or half as many as the Presbytery of Glasgow with its somewhere about sixty congregations.

Secondly, A person, once appointed, if only he gives a tolerable attendance at the meetings of the committee, may continue on the committee for an indefinite length of time. It is not necessary that he should ever be of any use in carrying on the business of the committee, or that he should even speak a single word. His mere bodily presence secures his continuance on the committee. If you examine the lists of the members of committees, you will find that in several parts of the country there are persons, of whom it may without disparagement be said that they are not more highly qualified for the work of the committees than many others who might be named, and that they have no more right to be on the committees than those others, and yet they are continued fifteen, seventeen, or twenty years on committees, while the others never get an opportunity to render their services at all.

But perhaps it may be objected to what has been said respecting the continuance of members on the committees, that each Assembly ap

points its own committees, and that each committee is appointed only for a year. To this I reply, that that is true in theory, but does not affect the practical working of the plan, which is as has been stated; and that, when viewed under that aspect, the present mode of appointing the committees is still more unsatisfactory than when viewed under the other; for, in this aspect of the matter, the committee of any given year not only suggest the names of the new members who are to be associated with them, but actually recommend themselves, as, along with these, the most suitable persons they know for the work of the committee.

For these and other reasons, then, your committee are of opinion that the present mode of appointing committees is unsatisfactory. And to my certain knowledge there exists outside the committee a wide-spread and deep-seated feeling of dissatisfaction-a feeling which is of the nature of an under-current, and therefore has not obtruded itself upon notice, but which, from what I have learned during the past year, I find is far stronger and broader than I was aware of when last year I gave notice of motion for the appointment of a committee.

But perhaps it may be said, "It is impossible to improve the state of matters an attempt was made some years ago, and turned out to be a failure." To that my reply is, that the plan never got a fair and full trial. The most important part of it was the principle of rotation. Now I have been given to understand that in one of the committees there were for a time some partial endeavours to carry out the principle of rotation. Perhaps there may have been similar endeavours in some of the other committees. But one has only to cast his eye over the lists of the various years to see that the plan never got anything like a full trial. If it is alleged that the cause of this was, that those in charge of matters did not know How to carry out the principle of rotation, I acknowledge the difficulty, but venture to think that it was the duty of those in charge of matters to come to the Assembly for instructions at the first opportunity.

Your committee are of opinion that the present state of matters is susceptible of much improvement, and therefore they lay before you the proposals which you will find in pages three and four of the report. The two leading features of the plan proposed by the committee are—(1.) The principle of rotation; and (2.) A committee of selection, acting in harmony with the conveners, and in communication with the Presby

teries.

In the first clause of suggestions it is proposed that the standing committees of the Church shall have each a fixed number of members. This proposal contains a principle which is exemplified in business every day. It is also necessary to the carrying out of the principle of rotation mentioned in suggestion 2.

In the second clause it is proposed that the number of members in each committee shall, generally speaking, be smaller than at present. There are certain advantages resulting from having large committees; but there are also very great disadvantages. With large committees many, instead of doing anything themselves, have simply to be spectators or witnesses of what is done by others. And then there is the matter of expense. With very large committees, and with the members of them spread over various districts of the country, the travelling ex

penses connected with attendance at meetings of committees would become a very serious burden on the funds of the Church. And then, further, there is the overlapping of the various committees. On account of the great size of the committees, it happens that the same individual has to be on a great number of committees, and often finds it physically impossible to attend them all. At the meetings of our committee I frequently heard gentlemen say that they should have been present at three, sometimes at four, other committees at the same hour. I may mention also that at present there are two respected brethren who are upon ten committees each, one who is on fourteen, one on eighteen, one on nineteen, one on twenty-two, and one on twenty-four.

In suggestion 2 it is proposed that a principle of rotation should be carried out, one-fifth part of the members retiring annually in order. That particular proportion was fixed on with a view to the avoiding of two extremes: on the one hand, the monopoly or the excessive centralisation of the administrative influence of the Church, to which there is a tendency when the committees are composed of the same individuals for an indefinite length of time; and, on the other hand, the inefficiency in conducting the business of the Church that would arise if the members had to retire from committees shortly after they had acquired the amount of acquaintance with the work of the committees necessary for enabling them to be useful in carrying on the business. Your committee are of opinion that the term of five years avoids both these extremes.

It is proposed that this rule shall apply to conveners as well as to ordinary members—that is, the conveners, at the end of five years, shall, like the other members, cease to be members, and therefore also cease to be conveners. Sometimes it might be very desirable that the same convener, or some of the members, should be continued after the expiry of the five years; and this is provided for in the last clause, "If the Assembly shall see fit, any retiring member may be re-appointed." Sometimes a person whose name has been put upon a committee may fail to attend; and this contingency is provided for in clause (b) of the suggestion.

Thus much for the principle of rotation. But that principle needs something to carry it into operation. The weak point of the former plan lay in this, that it did not provide any machinery for that purpose. The machinery proposed by your committee now is described in suggestions 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Suggestion 3 recommends the appointment of a committee of a selection, in which ministers of various standings, as regards their date of ordination, shall be fairly represented; and marks out the work which that committee shall have to perform, viz., to find out and nominate to the Assembly for appointment suitable persons to serve on the several committees.

Suggestion 4 provides that in making their selection this committee shall communicate with the conveners of the respective committees; for it is intended that the new committee shall act, not in opposition to the conveners, but in harmony with them, with a view to the most effective conducting of the business of the Church. It also provides that the Presbyteries of the Church shall be requested to furnish the committee with the names of persons whom they would recommend for appointment, thus securing that those who, in their own Presbyteries,

have manifested administrative talent or a capacity for business, shall be brought forward with a view to their being appointed to the committees of the Church.

Suggestion 5 indicates the principles by which the proposed committee shall be regulated in making their selection. The object in view is not the mere carrying out of a theory, but the effective conducting of the business of the Church. Accordingly the committee shall have regard (1,) to fitness for the work of the particular committee for which the persons are to be nominated. But it is desirable to have the various districts of the country fairly represented. It is not intended that from every part of the country there should be persons on all the committees. In some cases the distance is so great, or the means of locomotion are so defective, that it would be altogether unreasonable to expect ministers to come and attend committees. Still there is a large area within which these difficulties do not exist, and within that area it is desirable that there should be as equable a distribution of influence as possible.

Hitherto persons have often been nominated without their knowledge. Many have told me that the first time they had any idea of being appointed to a committee was when they saw their names in the Daily Proceedings. In such cases it often happened that the likings of the individual did not lie in that particular direction, or their other arrangements did not admit of their attending the meetings of committee; and so, after a year's non-attendance, their names had to be struck off. To meet this difficulty, it is provided that, previously to recommending any person for appointment as a new member of any committee, the Committee of Selection shall ascertain the person's willingness to undertake and to perform the work for which he is to be nominated.

Such is the proposal of your committee. Its two great leading features are, the principle of rotation, and a Committee of Selection acting in harmony with the conveners and in communication with the Presbyteries. Neither of these features is a novelty. The principle of rotation was, after three years' consideration, formally adopted by the Assembly in 1860 without a dissenting voice; and the appointment of a committee for carrying out the principle of rotation was proposed and earnestly urged by Principal Cunningham in the last Assembly before his death. A committee for the same purpose exists in the United Presbyterian Church, and, since its appointment, has given great satisfaction. What your committee aimed at was not the bringing forward of something new, nor the carrying out of a theory, beautiful perhaps in itself, but altogether unfit for use, but the producing of something practical, something that would work, and that would combine efficiency in conducting the business of the Church with an equitable and fair distribution of influence over the Church.

That the scheme proposed is perfect, I do not for a moment imagine. That it is fitted to accomplish the object which the committee had in view, I thoroughly believe. And I would say of it, what Dr Buchanan in his noble speech on Wednesday said of his new scheme about the Sustentation Fund, "That the scheme should be looked at all round, is not what I deprecate; it is what I earnestly desire. But I do deprecate that hyper-criticism that exhausts its ingenuity in picking holes and finding faults; and not less do I deprecate that utopian criticism which, because the scheme is not a panacea, fitted infallibly to cure every pos