of shallow theology, but of vast pretension, is an order of men who shall possess not only an intense and unextinguishable love of truth, but a sound, systematic, thorough acquaintance with the word of God,-whose interpretations of the Scriptures shall not be fettered by the love of system, nor perverted by constitutional feelings or educational habits; but who shall receive the whole Bible with simplicity and godly sincerity as one divine revelation, and make a faithful application of that sole, unaccommodating, unalterable, and eternal standard of right and wrong to the consciences of men. And just in proportion to the insidious and persevering activity with which the emissaries of evil from without devote themselves to their diabolical work of weakening the springs of social confidence, and sapping the foundations of public virtue;-and just in proportion to the recklessness with which opinions of every kind and degree of erroneous extravagance are flung forth by licensed authorities within the church, so should be the anxiety of our spirit and the urgency of our endeavours to secure a holy, talented, and well-disciplined ministry for the benefit of the rising generation.

But we are wandering away from the Synod of Ulster. We trust that this committee who are to meet in October will not limit their investigations to a detached portion of the collegiate education received by our students, nor even confine their scrutiny to the whole course of study pursued as well in the Scotch colleges, as in the Royal Belfast Institution. We believe that our students would be much better prepared for profiting by their college studies, did they receive a more adequate elementary education; and that they would be much better prepared for the exposition of the Scriptures in their ministerial capacity, were the curriculum of their theological acquirements considerably extended It is unjust and unreasonable that we should find fault with a student, or with his professor, for the small amount of information which the former has received during the brief season which he spends at college, until we have previously ascertained how much he had to learn, or perhaps to unlearn, before his mind was fitted to receive the information usually communicated in a college class. This simple consideration is very frequently overlooked in the judgments hastily_pronounced on the character of our college education. Then again it is hoped that the committee will consider whether a regard to the responsibilities of the sacred office of the ministry, which demand an enlightened and faithful exposition of the holy oracles-whether the spirit of the age, and the ex

ample of other colleges, especially on the continent of Europe, and in America, does not call upon us to establish one or two other professorships in addition to that which is so faithfully and ably held by our excellent professor of theology. We want to have our students made acquainted with biblical literature, biblical criticism, church history, church government, &c. of which subjects the majority of our students, it is to be feared, on leaving college, are almost wholly, if not altogether, ignorant. Where is the noble-minded layman, or number of laymen, within the precincts of our Presbyterian Church, who will come forward and endow a professorship for instruction in one or more of these branches of theological acquirement?

Nor will this committee omit to devote the most earnest and faithful attention to one special object of its appointmentthe principles upon which moral science is taught in some of our colleges. These, to say the least of them, are most dangerous and unfriendly to revelation. They ought to be, and we have no doubt they shall, before long, be totally discarded. The light poured upon this subject by an Abercrombie and a Wardlaw, of our own age, has discovered a mass of philosophical error and delusion with which no church, that is a faithful witness for Jesus Christ, will permit its students to be longer confounded and misled. "Science falsely so called" ́must be banished from the academic course, as alike inimical to sound philosophical views and religious principles. In addition to this topic, it is hoped the committee may be enabled to recommend the adoption of some plan to improve the present meagre and defective instruction in classic literature, afforded in our ordinary colleges.

The only other part of the synodical proceedings to which we shall advert on the present occasion, and with much more brevity than was intended at the commencement of these remarks is the prominence which was this year given to the subject of missions. In consequence of an arrangement sanctioned by the Synod last year, the business of the missionary society immediately succeeded the reading of the reports of Presbyteries. This is the natural and proper order of procedure: first, to inquire, what has been done during the past year within the limits of the church, then what has been done for the spread of the Gospel beyond these limits. Besides, this arrangement secures for the consideration of missions a full audience, and thus makes the whole body acquainted with the missionary proceedings of the church, and with its duty

respecting them. Still further;-the consideration of this subject strengthens the bonds of brotherly kindness, and exercises a most salutary influence on the spirit of the subsequent discussions. This was eminently observable during last Synod; for, with one or two slight and momentary exceptions, the debate on National Education was conducted and closed in the temper becoming Christians and ministers of the Gospel. Nearly the whole of Thursday was devoted to missionary subjects. The Report of the Presbyterian Missionary Society will be published, so that we need not allude to it more particularly here. Mr. Winning gave a highly interesting detail of facts, illustrative of the attachment which the Roman Catholics entertain for the Irish Scriptures, and of the progress which the Irish Society is making in the hearts of the people of the Kingscourt district. He strongly recommended to the Synod to take the schools which had been established for instructing the native Irish, through the medium of their own language, under its patronage, as had been done by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, in reference to the Gaelic schools in the Highlands. For the unwearied activity and energy displayed by Mr. Winning, during the last ten years, in carrying forward this noble work in spite of the most formidable difficulties and dangers, Mr. Winning received the thanks of the Synod; and never have thanks been more appropriately bestowed.*

Dr. McLeod, of Campsie, who was present at this meeting, and was asked to sit and deliberate with the Synod, in a very effective speech, stated the progress which education had made in the Highlands during the last eight years; and mentioned the gratifying fact, that not fewer than 56,000 children were now in attendance in the Gaelic schools. Dr. M'Leod at the close of his speech made an affecting allusion to the love of the Highlander for his Gaelic Psalms, and stated his conviction that the Gaelic version of the Psalms could be easily translated into Irish; and that two Irish scholars associated with two Highlanders, could soon accomplish an admirable version. Such was the impression produced on the Synod by this suggestion, that a subscription was immediately entered into to defray the expense of publishing a metrical version of the

*The Rev. Dr. M'Leod, of Campsie, and the Rev. Mr. M'Farlan, of Renfrew, also received the thanks of the Synod, for the deep interest which they have taken, and the valuable assistance they have rendered, in promoting the interests of our missionary society.

Psalms in Irish, and upwards of £80, was forthwith collected in the house for that purpose.

The Presbytery of Dublin had been enjoined by the Synod, at its meeting in Dublin, to prepare the plan of a foreign mission, to be submitted for consideration at Londonderry, and accordingly the plan was submitted. The British colonial possessions in North America were selected as the sphere of missionary labour by the Presbytery, and approved of by the Synod.* There was no time, however, to enter into the details of the plan proposed. In order to accomplish this object, a meeting of Synod is to be held, with the Divine permission, in Dungannon, on the third Tuesday of August. We earnestly trust that this meeting will be numerously attended by both ministers and elders. It is, we believe, the first attempt of the Synod to establish a foreigh mission, and the occasion is eminently deserving of the serious and prayerful attention of the church. In reference to this meeting, and as an expression of gratitude to God for the increased spirit of missionary exertion which has arisen in our body, and for a partial revival of our ancient discipline, a day of thanksgiving has been appointed, viz., the second Wednesday or Thursday of August, which, it is hoped, will be solemnly and universally observed by the members of our church.

We must not omit to mention, that a committee has been fixed to revise the code of discipline, and to put it in a form more suitable to the present circumstances of the church. On this subject, and also on the appointment of a commission to make inquiries relative to the state of religion in certain districts under the superintendance of the Synod, we had intended to make some observations, but we must defer them to another opportunity.

On reviewing the whole proceedings of the Synod at its late meeting, may we not say with humility that we have received increasing evidences of the favour of the most HighGod; and that we have from year to year more visible and abundant encouragement to be "stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that our labour is not in vain in the Lord."

*On this subject an excellent address was delivered before the Synod, by the Rev. W. Fairlie, of Whitehaven, who had travelled from England to be present at the meeting, and was asked to sit as a member of Synod. If we can obtain his speech, we will favour our readers with it in a future Number.

352

PEACE.

"THE peace of God, which passeth all understanding," is a grace implanted by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all God's people. It is not the passing impression of a moment, but a substantial, and an enduring blessedness. It flows from a knowledge of the Divine character, as revealed in the cross of Christ, and accompanies the love of the divine law. It was the precious legacy of the Saviour to his desponding followers -they have found it to be a legacy worthy of his rich love and free grace-they have ever sought to cherish its holy influence within the temple of their own bosoms, and have ever prayed for its extension over a "world that lieth in wicked

ness."

It has been more or less felt and acknowledged, that the world in which we dwell is a scene of sorrows, and trials, and disappointments, that it is wanting in all that can render man truly happy, and is quite incapable of elevating him to that moral dignity after which it is his duty and his privilege to aspire. Though all, perhaps, feel this to be the case, yet the Christian alone so feels it, as to derive benefit from the melancholy experience; he has been at the "broken cisterns" of earthliness, and has met with bitter disappointment;-he comes direct to the "fountain of living waters," his soul is satisfied, and his spirit is gladdened within him.

The disappointments and sorrows of time bring the votary of the world into a state of utter and hopeless destitution; but the same disappointments, and the same sorrows, when they darken the path of the Christian, only tend to draw him closer to that light which "ariseth in the darkness"—that peace which enriches and refreshes the soul.

When we contemplate the characters of those "holy men of God," whose lives are on record in the Scriptures, and when we mark the influence of peace on their hearts and ways, we cannot but regard it as a blessed portion. When David's enemies were seeking to turn "his glory into shame," he could, to use his own language in the 4th Psalm, lay him down in peace, knowing that the Lord only made him to dwell in safety. He felt the meaning of his own sentiment expressed in another Psalm, "Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them." Stephen also, in the hour of death, when surrounded by his persecutors and murderers, delivered up his soul with holy composure into the