various churches connected with the Establishment in the northern counties during 1848, which he believes to be substantially correct.

In Orkney, the Establishment is represented as being in a very ruinous state, and perfectly inefficient for good. There are thirteen United Presbyterian and fourteen Free-church congregations, and a mere disjointed fragment of population is left with the Kirk. This representation is confirmed by the following account, which recently appeared in the John o'Groat Journal:-" It would appear that the condition of the Establishment in Caithness is indeed humiliating; but if Sir George would pay a visit to Orkney, and especially the following parishes, Kirkwall, Stromness, St. Andrew's, Firth and Stennis, Birsay and Harray, Evie and Rendall, Rousay, Holm, Shapinshay, Sanday, &c., he would find that here, as in his own neighbourhood, the Establishment has had stretched out upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness. In the above-mentioned parishes the ministers have to preach to little else than empty benches. Can it be said, that in the parish of Firth, containing a population of 584, there is more than fifteen of an average attendance of parishioners at the Established church? Can it be said, that in the parish of St. Andrew's, containing a population of 921, there is more than an average attendance of seven parishioners at the Established church? Can it be said, that in the parish of Birsay, containing a population of 584, there is more than an average attendance of fifteen at the Established church? Can it be said, that in the parish of Holm containing a population of 866, there is more than twenty of an average attendance of the parishioners at the Established church? Can it be said, that in the parishes of Lady Kirk, and Cross and Burness, containing a population of 1891, there is more than thirty of an average attendance of parishioners at both the Established churches? Can it be said, that in the parish of Rousay, containing a population of 976, there is more than forty of an average attendance of parishioners at the Established church? Can it be said, that in Kirkwall and Stromness, the principal towns of the

county, containing a population of 6,362, there is more than 400 of an average attendance at both the Established churches? We could name several churches out of the Establishment in which there is an average attendance greater than all the above put together nay, we could name a church, not far from Kirkwall, where there is a membership nearly double the whole of the average attendance at the Established church in the above ten parishes."

In the counties of Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross, the population is 141,066, the number of parish churches seventy-six, and the total number of hearers 2,546—an average attendance of thirty-four to each church. Sir George adds:-"If this be the untoward condition of the Church in these counties with respect to attendance upon ordinances, I fear that, in many instances, the parochial schools are almost as much at a discount. I have been assured that this is often the fact, even where the teacher is efficient and unexceptionable, so general is the aversion entertained against office-bearers of every description connected with the Establishment."*

"It might have been expected that in localities so circumstanced the incumbent would have walked softly,' and put up with some inconveniences, and remembered that all things which are lawful are not equally expedient, and not have forfeited the regard and confidence of their chief adherents, the heritors, by urging every temporal claim to the utmost extent, and in the most peremptory manner. Is it a time to receive money, and receive garments, and olive yards!'

"We may rely upon it, that the great mass of the rural population throughout Scotland are much more shrewd and intelligent than they are supposed to be by the adherents of the Establishment (who often maintain, that very few of those who left the Church are capable of assigning any reason for having done so), and only find their aversion to the Church, and their tendency to adopt voluntary principles, increased, when they contrast the compara. tively small incomes and modest mansions' of their own contented pastors with the large stipends and spacious residences awarded to ministers who have so much to receive and so little to do, the motto of the one being 'Work, work,' and that of the other 'Give, give.' What must be the feelings of the numerous hearers who attend the ministrations of my excellent and eloquent friend David Burn, the minister of the original Secession congregation, who, for an income of 100%. per annum, with which he is perfectly satisfied, preaches always twice, and often three times on the Sabbath, to attached and devoted congregations, and has evening classes several times in the week for the private instruction of

We shall now proceed to give statistics that will. exhibit the condition of the Establishment in some of the principal towns and cities of Scotland. They may !

be taken as a specimen of the whole.

ABERDEEN.-In this city there are six parish churches, containing in all 8,121 sittings. The number of sittings let is 3,048, leaving unlet 5,073. One of the churches (the North), it is said, could accommodate, in addition to those who now attend it, the seat-renters of three of the other churches, and still there would remain 761 sittings unoccupied.

The state of the quoad sacra churches is as follows:

The number of United Presbyterian churches is four, and of Free-churches sixteen. The Free Church Presbytery of Aberdeen (in addition to £9,574 2s. 51d. for congregational purposes), have raised £1,247 14s. Id. for educational and missionary objects; while the Established Presbytery have raised for the latter objects only £402 0s. 5d.

DUNDEE. This large and growing town, which in 1841 had a population of 65,000, has five parish and two quoad sacra churches. These have accommodation in all for 8,404 persons, but the number of let sittings does not amount to more than 2,000. The following details are gathered from the " Balance Sheet, showing

his people, when they compare his position with that of the incumbent in an adjacent parish, who, as I am told, is claiming a new church and enjoying a large income, whilst (as I have been lately informed by letter), on the last day on which the minister preached his only hearer, except, I suppose, the beadle, was one little girl? There is not, I believe, one single scholar at the parish school. There have never been more than two or three, excepting the schoolmaster's own family, during the last two or three years. No head of a family who is a native of the parish adheres to the Establishment."Six Letters.

the assets and debts of the Town of Dundee, the Kirk Fabric, and St. David's church, at 30th September, 1849"

State of the number of sittings let, unlet, reserved, and of the seat-rents for the year ending at Whitsunday, 1849:

From the above it appears that four of the churchesthe East, South, Steeple, and Cross-have only 898 sittings let, while there are 3,810 unlet; and that the fifth, St. David's, has only 201 let, while there are 1,373 unlet.

We learn, also, from the "Abstract of the Revenue and Expenditure," that the—

£ S. d.

650 12 1

306 16 6

343 15 7

It is thus abundantly evident that the Established Church in Dundee is but "the shadow of a shade." The extent to which it has suffered from the disruption will appear from the following statements:

The Free-church has no fewer than ELEVEN congregations in the town, which, with the exception of one, the Gaelic, whose case is quite peculiar, seem to be in a very prosperous condition. The attendance we cannot specify, but we can furnish the income of the whole of them during the past year, both for congregational purposes and for missionary and educational objects, which testifies at once to the number of adherents and to their liberality.

Leaving an excess in favour of the Free-church of £5385 10 24 the latter raising sixteen times more than the former.

In addition to these monies, the Free churches in Dundee have raised during the past year, for educational and missionary objects, the sum of £921 2s. 11d.

The United Presbyterian Church has six places of

*Parliamentary Report, 1850.