IN THE From the author COLONIES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PRINCIPLES AND INFLUENCE OF The Fifth Series of the Chalmers Lectures BY R. GORDON BALFOUR, D.D. EDINBURGH AUTHOR OF CENTRAL TRUTHS AND SIDE ISSUES" CONVENER OF FREE CHURCH COLONIAL COMMITTEE FROM 1874 TO 1881 Edinburgb 1900 LIBRARY NOV 7 1957 KD 57805 Jackson EXTRACT FROM THE DEED INSTITUTING THE (The Deed being dated 26th May 1880.) ... "I, ROBERT MACFIE, Esq. of Airds and Oban, considering that I feel deeply interested in the maintenance of the principles of the Free Church of Scotland, have transferred . . . the sum of £5000 sterling for the purpose of founding a Lectureship in memory of the late THOMAS CHALMERS, D.D., LL.D., under the following conditions: namely-1. The Lectureship shall be called The Chalmers Lectureship; 2. The Lecturer shall hold the appointment for four years, and shall be entitled to one-half of the income 3. The subject shall be Headship of Christ over His Church and its Independent Spiritual Jurisdiction;' 4. The Lecturer shall be bound to deliver publicly a Course of not fewer than six Lectures . . . in Edinburgh, in Glasgow, and in Aberdeen; 5. The Lecturer shall be bound, within a year, to print and publish at his own risk not fewer than 1500 copies . and deposit three copies in the libraries of the Free Church Colleges; 6. One-half of the balance of the income . . shall be laid out in furnishing with a copy all the Ministers and Missionaries of the Free Church." NOTE.-The eight Lectures contained in this volume have all been publicly delivered in the three Colleges. PREFACE THE purpose for which this Lectureship was instituted by the thoughtful munificence of the late Robert Macfie, Esq., of Airds and Oban, was to explain and defend the distinctive principles of the Free Church of Scotland. That was done so ably and so fully by the first two lecturers, Sir H. W. Moncreiff, Bart., D.D., and Dr. W. Wilson, that it seemed as if nothing further of any great importance could be said upon the subject. A happy thought, however, occurred to the third lecturer, Dr Thomas Brown. With Mr Macfie's concurrence, he prepared a course of Lectures designed to show that the principle of spiritual independence for which the Free Church testified and suffered had been maintained by the faithful portion of the Church of Scotland from the Reformation downwards. By taking this line he was enabled to embody in his Lectures some of the most interesting passages of Scottish Church History, and, by accompanying them with a graceful and judicious commentary, to make the position of our Church intelligible to those who might have been repelled by mere abstract reasoning. The last holder of this Lectureship, Dr Norman Walker, having to deliver them soon after the celebration of our Church's Jubilee, conceived the idea of carrying out Dr Brown's historical mode of treatment by telling the story of the Free Church during the first fifty years of its exis iii tence in a condition of separation from the State. This he has done in a very graphic and interesting way, with considerable fullness of detail and great impartiality. It occurred to the present lecturer that this line of historic narrative might with advantage be carried out a little farther by giving some account of the work which our Church has done, and of the influence which its principles have exerted in the Presbyterian Churches of the Colonies. The chief sources from which he has obtained his information, in addition to the letters from Colonial ministers acknowledged in the Lectures, are the following: The Free Church Missionary Record, Reports of Free Church Colonial Committee, Professor Gregg's "Short History of Presbyterianism in Canada;" "Life of Dr Robert Burns;" "Life of Rev. Wm. Burns;" Proceedings of General Assembly and Reports of Home Mission Committee of the Presbyterian Church in Canada; Presbyterian Year-Books and Almanacs of Canada and Australia; Dr Lang's "Historical and Statistical Account of New South Wales; " Jubilee Volumes of Dr Hamilton and Dr Campbell, Victoria, and Rev. James Chisholm, Otago; "Presbyterian Church of Victoria," by Rev. R. Sutherland; "Colonisation and Church Work in Victoria and the Story of the Otago Church and Settlement," by Rev. C. S. Ross; "Life of Dr Stuart," by John Hislop, LL.D., F.R.S.E.; "History of South Australia," by Edwin Hodder; Theall's "South Africa," "Hewitson's Life;" Dr Geikie on Presbyterian Union in New South Wales; "Memorials of our Colonial Missions" in Free Church Monthly, by Dr Milne Rae; "The Scottish Church in Christendom," by Rev. H. Cowan, D.D.; "The Presbyterian Churches: their Place and Power in Modern Christendom," by Rev. J. N. Ogilvie, M.A.; Proceedings of General Presbyterian Councils. The Lectures were written from three to four years ago, and the progress of some of the Colonies during that period has been such as to make constant revision necessary in order to bring the information down to date. With so wide a field to traverse, and so many details to gather up, perfect accuracy can hardly be attained. All that the author can say is, that he has spared no pains in the endeavour to secure it. As there is no other book that covers precisely the same grouud, he is not without the hope that this volume, with all its defects, may be found to possess some interest and value, and that the labour bestowed upon it may not have been labour lost. P.S.-The reader will find on page 2 a reference to the invitation given to the Premiers of all the Colonial Legislatures, and cordially accepted by them, to be present at the celebration of our Queen's Diamond Jubilee. This was followed by the statement, that nothing had ever done more to promote a sense of solidarity in the British Empire, or to advance the cause of Imperial Federation. Since these words were written that act of courtesy to the Colonies has met with a magnificent response in the generous loyalty with which they have all come to our help, and that most effectively, in the prosecution of the South African war. This ought surely to bind us to our Colonial brethren by a new tie of gratitude and affection. |