1 dr. DUFFS ADDRESS ,jSj3SE THE TUBE CHURCH COWEBMOH. li:- ‘ public appearance bf Dr. sir.oo his return from India to and, occurred Aug. 10, before the mission representing the Free ( . :ch Assembly at its first session if; : the adjournment of that body, i ; , a the report in the Edinburgh Daily ,/' ;of the 11th, wo learn that he was rivod 'with great cordiality by the Lumbers..of Commission; and in their'; ra.no, and on bohalf of tho Church, the l Moderator, Principal Fairbairn, bade Gm a cordial welcome, and invited him to address tho meeting if hi#, strength vcaid allow. Dr. Duff responded in an eloquent address, which reminded many c f his hearers of tho impassioned oratory c! his oarlier years, notwithstanding! tho subdued tone of voice and remain ing languor of his last severe illness. Dr. Duff commenced with a torching aiiusion to the blanks made in the ranks of leading men in the Free Church since nis last visit to Scotland, and then re ferred to the circumstances in which he felt himfeelf placed by : the appoint ment of the Church. Ho said: Excuse roc also for a moment allud ing to another matter, once and for all, which is somewhat more personal still. God is my witness that if there were any desire which; dominated in my heart more strongly than another for thirty-five years it was that, if it were His holy will, I should be permitted and privileged to end my natural life on the shores.of India. To this subject I have, in various ways, adverted both at home and abroad; and I will now only, with your permission, take advantage of the opportunity of the presence of my fathers and brethren the represen tatives of the Free Church of Scotland, for solemnly declaring that the way in which I have been led hero has not been of my own seeking. If lam here this day, it is in spite of strong antecedent wishes, and plans, .and purposes, which seemed to gather strength with advanc ing ye&ipf I fdlt not only/bound vby tios peculiar and 5 enduring to'lndia dna its people ? bnt,.§sfit wore, actually rooted , into the veryppil'of India,’ aiid’held fa£f ‘ there by numberless sinewy fibres that shot downwards and spread outwards with yearly augmenting forceso that to tear mis awajf from thßtsoiDrtasf ike' the tearing up of an old tree by the roots by tho force of a violent tornado, and flinging it forth to wither and die. Yet God, the good and gracious God, has in His own wisdom accomplished that which I never wished to accomp lish—yea, which was contrary to my strongest wishes—and I have been so placed in His own gracious way of judg ment, tompered with mercy, and afflic tion mingled with pity and compassion, as to constrain 1 mo soon passively to acquiesoe; and not only so, but by sub sequent processes of self-crucifixion of tho severest kind—of the previously cherished feelings of the heart and the strongest convictions of tho head—l have been led, not only into passive, ac quiescence, but to the adoption of the language of undoubting and unhesi tating faith, saying—Good is the will of the Lord; Lord,thy will and not miue bo dono." And those who have experienced processes of this kind—and. I beg I may do excused, for I shall not; again during iny life, in this Assembly" or anywhere else, allude to it—those who have experienced processes of this kind will testify that they are fraught with practical lessons of the most in structive kind —lessons which before, perhaps, might have been dimly seen floating like abstractions and clouds. Among these is the hard and useful,: but difficnlt-to-learn lesson of one's own individual worthlessness and nothing ness amidst the countless agencies of jphovah’s providenoe and grace. In spheres where any of us may have long laboured, and laboured it may be not without some signal tokens of divine approval and Messing, all of us know that the feeling, almost instinctively and without any articulate expression, is apt to creep in upon us, that in some way or other our personal presonco and labor must bo absolutely indispensable there. In order to crush—to eradicate, yea, to utterly annihilate any such delu sions, God, in mercy to our souls, to provont the retarding of the growth of grace, is pleased to tear them to shreds and scatter them to the winds of heav en. It is in these ways of Heaven taught-experience that we are led at last to confess that God, tho great God, “ Does not need Either m&n’fl; work or hie own works; who Bears his mild yoke, they serve him best; hie Is kingly, thousands at his bidding speed And post o’ar land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and. wait." Violently wrenched and thrust forth by an afflicting visitation of Providence from tho land of my adoption on the one band, and summoned on th© other hand, by the General Assembly of this Church to assume .an office w:hibh,while it removes my bodily presence from the banks of the Ganges to the banks of tho Forth, yet opens up—daily Opens U p__abtmdant scope for all the activi ties and energies that may survive in health and strength for the mighty work of Indian evangelization; and recognizing, too, in the very peculiar oiroumstanoes of the case, the voice of him who is the Great Head of the Cbuxch, acting as he usually does through the spiritually constituted or 1864 UNIO?T OP PRfIfIBYXEEIAItS DESIRABLE IN . SOUTH AFRICA. Waiving the subject on which he might have been expected to dwell, the condition of thingß generally in the for eign field, he proceeded to speak par ticularly of the field in South Africa, where! he had spent some time in his homeward journey. He found a great variety of Presbyterian bodies in Cape Town, Caffraria and Hatal, in regard to whom he thus expressed himself: How, it is impossible to go into a re gion like that without feeling that not one of those parties is stroog enough to form an independent church for itself. In these regions there is impressed upon one the feeling of the absolute necessity of union, union, union ; so that, all genu ine Presbyterians who hold by the grand standard of the Westminster Confession of Faith may join together, and be ready, with regard to minor distinetions, to let them alone, or overlook them. Haming the materials which exist for forming a Synod of South Africa, he continued: If they did so, they would soon con stitute a very important and powerful body in South Africa. What assistance might they not then render to our mis sions which are at. present isolated and alone, cut off from the colony, and the colonial Church itself deprived of the benefits which accrue to every Church which is a missionary Church. If that Church wore so constituted as to form the basis of these missions, there would not only ; bo a healthy outlet for their missionary activity, but tho missions might speedily bo loft to the foßtering care of that Church, and our work there would be done.: I think it would be the duty and interest of the Free Church, either by its Commissioner by one of its committees, to look into this matter, and see what can be done to help for ward so groat and mighty a movement as this. Then, in regard to union, we all feel, at least abroad, that there are simply two grand extremes to. be avoided, and that if these be avoided, then the more of union the better everywhere; There is the extreme of general indiscriminate rigidness on the one hand, And the extreme of general indiscriminate laxity on the other. If we act out the first extreme of rigidness, and put all the grand fundamental prineiplesof the Christian faith, and all minor points con nected with order and .discipline, and all the many traditional observances which have no footing and foundation in God’s Word—if wo pub 1 all these together, and; cling to them all As of equal importance, then there is an end to union and an end also, I think, to something, like common sense. If, on the other hand, we go to the other extreme of laxity, we go afloat into, the wildness of modern infidelity, which will lead us we know not where. Hay; but While we extend the right hand of fellowship to every one who holds the Head and to every one who has the image of Christ upon him and call him a brother beloved, let us with heart and soul repudiate the indiscrimihato llhemlitsr“or:tttreraiism which now-a-days would seem to wink *at essential. error; which would, com promise .plenary inspiration: and the.' great fundamental doctrines of divine truth; Which; would rob the Bible of its divine authority, and would rob the cross of Christ itself 1 of its true gloryy the; atonement for our sins, and. even: the Redeemer himself ofhis mediatorial crown. (Applause.) But avoiding these two . extremes, the more of union; the; better. ORTHODOXY OF THE S.AFRICAN CHURCHES OOLENSO AND HIS METROPOLITAN —TES- TIMONIAL TO THE LATTER SUGGESTED, ; There is another point connected with South Africa which I think it'.will he, fratifying to the Commission to learn, t may be; known to some that. the; Chuvchof Holland has become thorough ly rationalistic as to the majority. I am - happy to ,say, however, and: with em phasis, that: with the Dutch Church of South Africa, which in some sense may be said to be the Established Church pf the old colony, it is not so. . The.great majority of the ministers there are sound and orthodox to the very core— lot us thank God for it. (Cheers.)' Many of them are Scotchmen;:.perhaps, this is one reason to account for it. Some of them have belonged to the Free Church, and the great; proportion of the ministers of the Dutch Church in' South Africa, I believe, are Scotchmen, who carry about with them strongly everything connected with the West minster Confession. Be that as it may, the fact of their orthodoxy is undobted. About two years ago a meeting pf the Dutch Synod was held at Capo Town,, and some representation had been made' as to an incipient creeping in of come-; thing like heresy. In course of the dis cussion a minister gave utterance to a sentiment of this kind, that in the Cate chism, though it was very good on the whole, there was something he did not like, such as the expressions with re gard to the hereditary corruption and innate depravity of human nature, and that, if he lectured on that point; he would be obliged to say that in this respect the Catechism was wrong. He was immediately taken up by the Sy nod and called upon to retract, or threat ened with proceedings of an ecclesiasti cal kind. He tried to explain, not to, retract, but to confirm; and after long debates and many proceedings, which lasted for two years, the issue has been that he was first suspended, and then deposed, and that by an overwhelming majority. This is a decided act, which has told powerfully throughout the whole of South Africa. Then, again, the whole world knows of the unhappy case of Colenso—surely, one might-say of him, the most unnatural heretic this world has..ever seen.. (Laughter and tipjifeiuse;) : :■■■ V : 'u", . No one feels more than I do with re gard to the mischiefs and injuries in flicted on the cause of evangelism by High Churchism, as it is called, and the Bishop of Cape Town, the Metropolitan of South Africa, is usually known as a High .Churchman. At the same time, there is m the man an amount of aetiv ity and energy which would to God we could all imitate, and which I observed made itself felt throughout all South Africa and for thousands of miles in land. The Dutch ministers and others said to me, “We are obliged to exert ourselves now, for if we do not, he will tak e everything out of our hands.” I said, “It is the best thing he could do, unless you do exert yourselves.” There is one grand characteristic of him, name ly, that his trials have been such that they have greatly mollified his temper and disposition; and I believe he is get ting every , day a firmer hold of the great principles of evangelical truth. Most of you know of the trial of Co lenso at Cape Town before his Metro politan. If the volume of the addresses delivered on the occasion by the digni taries of the Church of England were to come into your'hands, some of them would astonish:the Presbyterian minis ters : of Scotland for their soundness, their largeness of view, and their strcngth.of orthodoxy on the great fun, damental, points of the Christian faith. I think the speech and address of Dean Douglass, oi Capo Town, one of the most masterly dissertations on the sub ject known in any language.: then, the Bishop Metropolitan has de termined to follow out his course, be the results what they may; and he is a far-seeing man, looking far a-head, and prepared. for;all consequences. In con versing: with him in the beginning of February last, I was curious to know whether he saw what the ultimate issue might be, for I had in my eye our own trials: and Bufferings' in connection with the Free Church. I found that he had been ; studying the subioet of tho *Freo Church controversy;. and not only so, but.l may note, in passing, that in for eign lands I have found .that the Free Church has been doing a work of which itself is not Conscious at this moment— that many who were getting into diffi culties in England; have turned thpir attention to the' subject, and studied it in a way never thought of before: : AbcF my own persuasion; is, that it is very likely that the great discussions which, in the providonCe of God, have been car ried on by the Free Church, and which ended triumphantly for the cause of truth and godliness in this land," will usefully influence those great move ments in evangelical bodies throughout the ; world. On one occasion, a aigni tary of the Established Church of Eng land—l need not say 'Where—felt so in terested that hcpfidupiedpoine; hours of the night in hearing the whole leading stejps of our Church history from the Reformation to the Disruption, and at every step in the. crisis, he said, “ "Well, that was the right step to take ;" and then, when he came to apprehend the nature of our Disruption and its objects, hd said—“ Yes, that was a glorious movement; would to God the Church of England were ripe for such a move ment;” ‘ '■ My own feeling with regard to the matter is this: Having been present by an Incident oFßroyithuvoo-in-tho dral Church of Cape Town at the trial of the unhappy Colcnso, when the Me tropolitan delivered his grand charge to his-clergy, m which he pointed oiit the cause and reasons for the action he had taken, and vindicated his proceedings, .ahd re-asserted his own intense eonvie iipnof the .grand old truths of the Bible plenary inspiration, justifica tion, by faith, and. so' own in tense feeling was this, why here have 5 been; the foundations of par Christian faith assailed by this unhappy man. if these foundations are gone,-we are all, gopb together. ’ If'you strike away the iouudaiiohs,'; it will, be 'like ; striking : down the ‘pillahs of our teifiple and blot ting the sun .out of .the solar system. I feltj 'therefbre, intensely thatitwas ohe’s duty to rally round the man that upheld these great and fundamental principles to the extent to which he uphold them, leaving minor; things, alone to be dis cussed hereafter at the. proper time, if there is keart and time;for it; hut if unions-, go on as. I hope they will, per-. haps that time will never come. But if you will excuse me throwing: Out a hint or: suggestion—it may be a wild and useless one, but it occurs to me, and therefore I throw it out; These; men in South Africa are cut oft' from, tho great-world of Christendom, and they are in their solitude maintaining the treat truth of God on its ancient form ations, and they crave at our hands sympathy, and, so far as we can give it, co-operation and support. Might it not possibly be a very worthy and fitting thing if in: some form this Church were, to tender alike to tho Dutch Synod of South Africa and to theßishopof Cape -Town, both of whom are contending to tho Utmost for the fundamental princi ples of God’s truth, some address—-care fully guarded —expressive" of our sym pathy, admiration and support, to the extent that they are enabled to. main tain the grand, primitive apostolic doc trines which constitute the basis of oiir faith ? (Applause.) WATCHMAN, WHAT OS THE NIGHT ? Leaving that alone, I would go on to say this, that: since my return I have found in different quarters various views and feelings expressed. with regardto, the prospects of missions.. I have heard such expressions as “ Have there not been failures?” My answer is, “ Yes, so far as, individuals are concerned, and so far as particular localities and partic ular projects are concerned. There have been failures in these, hut there have been no failures with regard to the grand work of God at large; on the con trary, there has been progress and ad vancement.” Then it has been said—* “ Has there not in certain departments of the field been retrogression?” I an swer,- “ What if there has ? It is inei-, dent to advancement in every great en terprise, civil or sacred, tjhat there should be occasional temporary retrogression.” In respect to our missions, it is like the progress of the tide, which goes up to a certain mark, but retires again, only to flow iip to a greater distance. I believe this is the truth with regard to missions, if a candid view were taken of them, over the whole world. I find in certain quarters very gloomy anticipations and views of the .state of religion both at home and abroad. I feel no way stag gered by these apprehensions. Quite the contrary; and I have my reasons for it. lam not one who ever encour aged sanguine expectations of any great or immediate results to our enterprises in any part of the mission field. On the contrary, some of you may remember that thirty years ago I protested against these being entertained. That is not the way in which God works. He works slowly and surely from age to age, from generation to generation. "We are apt to forget that with Him “ one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as One day.” Ile was pleased to work on slowly for four thousand years, unfold ing the mysterious scheme of redemp tion, till the fulness of the time was come. If God, then, he patient in working, ought not we, who are bound to imitate Him in all His imitable perfections, to imitate Him in His patience, and to wait till His appointed time come ? Surely this is like Scripture and like common sense. • I feel that the aspect of things is to the eye of . sense, and to the world at large, a very dark one; but to the eye of faith, I say emphatically it is otherwise. It has been my own lot within the last ten years to note, from personal obser vation, in different regions, many of the strange workings and counter-workings of Popery, Jesuitism, materialistic infi delity, the neology, rationalism, and the strangely varied pantheism of Germany, and such like; and it has also been my lot to make acquaintance with the Brah minisms and Hinduisms of India; the Confucianisms, Buddhisms, and Ration alisms of China and of the Indian Arch ipelago ; and on returning to the western world I fihd; the great ecclesiastical ma chine ,of r the Church, of England torn to pieces, or going to pieces, by strange de cisions of the most adverse kind; and I find creeping in, at least there is said to be creeping in, to all religious bodies more or .less a feeling of doubtfulness and distrust, all tending to weaken one’s faith and confidence in Jehojjrfi’_s holy oracles, and fill 'our minds wrafdoubts and alarms in regard to the future.— Now, I feel that instead of being dishear tened or discouraged, there is something underneath all this that is full of en couragement. It has been so in all ages; God has permitted these things on pur pose to prove and test and try His peo ple’s faith, and in order that out of dark ness may spring forth a brighter light. I feel enconraged, not only by these con siderations, but that in the heathen field -thane.. am. processes at work, and that elements have been introduced wliich will ferment and go oh increasingly ferment ing till tbe whole mass be leavened. All this may be imperceptible to the outward 1 eye and to the superficial:view.; but there are elements of change of this descrip tion assuredly at work throughout the mighty hosts of Asia at 'this moment, in. India and China, and elsewhere. It is a question of time; if we persevere, and other religious bodies persevere, ulti mately there will be a great recompense of reward. But iny confidence is based oh some thing higher and better. I find men of science and 'literature, as they call them- ‘ selves, pouring contempt on what they denounce as the old and obsolete eviden ces of Christianity, and therefore on .Christianity itself. Now, it has been, my own lot to be driven to examine these evidences in all their bearings, as resisted and opposed by the acute intel lects of atheistic, pantheistic, polythe-, istic schools, and all the rest of them; and I do now say here this day, with the utmost emphasis of faith, that, to my .own mind, at this moment these evi-. dences bulk more massively than ever, ' and with more rock-like solidity than ever. The Bible being thus based on Unassailable and irrefragable evidence, I am bound to take the truth it contains as the very truth of God; and, among other truths, I find it there declared that God had a purpose with regard to this world from eternity—that he had a purpose not merely of creation, but a purpose of redemption, and that among the mysteries of Providence is this, that God is often more glorified by re deeming out of evil than by preventing evil; that, therefore, angels and men were permitted to fall, , among other reasons, for this very end, that out of their fall this glorious character of God should be unfolded in ways in which it could not be .unfolded in the works of creation. I find, all this, and much more than this, in the Bible, and I am encouraged to look for the issue in the light it gives. I find that this earth is designed to be the theatre for unfolding the .Mighty work of redemption; and 1 ain sure, from the study of the Bible, that. when, the last sinner is called, and when the last saint shall have finished his course, then the present organization will be at an end, and thei earth will be wrapped upin its winding- sheet of flame,; and that a new heavena and a new earth: will then appear, wherein dwelleth right eousness. All this, with the Bible in my hands, I am b,otind with the most absolute assurance of faith andhope to “look forward to, and I am encouraged to look beyood the darkness of ; the,pre sent-, with. Its trials and discomfitures, and try to realize the bright and glori ous prospect that is yet hidden. What ever may be the immediate processes I say nothing of them—l say nothing about the millenarian or any other view of the subject—l merely say in general terms, that whatever be the intermediate processes by which we shall one day be landed on scenes surpassing fable, we ought all of us, with the most absolute assurance of faith and hope, to look forward to the realization of all these bright visions which are unfolded to us by the prophetic muse. Looking calmly and candidly at the whole business, it may be that the man ner in which God will accomplish all tills may he wholly different from our antecedent anticipations; it may be in a way that shall prove very humbling to us all. It may be that one and all of us will have to make endless confession of our shortcomings of different kinds and degrees; it may be that one and all of us shall have on bended knees to con fess bitterly the many ways in which we have wronged our neighbors by our hastiness, uncharitableness, and by our precipitate judgment. It may be, for aught I can tell, that all our existing ec clesiastical organizations, so devoutly idolised by many of us, may have to go down to actual dissolution, so that there may rise up one great, glorious, recon stituted Church, worthy of its Great Head and King*. All this and much more may be, but we may be sure the end, will be glorious. This may to many —to the eye of sense, and of blinded, perverted reason—be the very climax of unlikelihood. It may seem that there are oceans of difficulties and mountains of impossibilities in the way; yet faith tmght to pfevaiL The intense assurance of God's-omnipotence will level these mountains and roll out these oceans into emptiness, making way for the efiusions : of the Spirit of Grace over a ransomed and gladdened world. It may be that the aspect of things is to the eye of sense dark and ominous. The shado.w of evening may even now be fast closing on the hoary heights of our Christendom. The sun may now seem setting- in an angry sky, and all around the horizon the cloudsmay be rising black and lurid, and under their bosoms may lie asleep the tempest which is to burst on the na tions. There may he only the accident-, al twinkle of the star of truth glimmer ing through the thickening gloom.. All this and much more may be ; but; with the Bible in our hands, we are called upon—nay, we are warranted in rising up in stronger faith and saying,. “ Come thou Almighty Saviour, in the infinite sympathies of Thy jjoundless compassion; come, thou Spirit of Grace, in the plen titude and overflow of Thy soul-quicken ing influence.” Let the blighting of our once fondly-cherished hopes, if need be, and the retardation of our once fondly-cherished prospects, be to us and to all believers through. >ut the world but the preparation for that night of storm which may bo now so omniously brooding over the nations; and when the gloom is thickest, and the tempest of humain pas sion loudest, and the rage of Satan— | who is coming down with great wrath because his time is short—-is fiercest, may ours be : the; faith which may discern even ip all this what are the signs and presages of that hallowed morn which shall chase away the long dark night of ageSjhefaldingthecomingbf Himwhose coming shall be in' 1 ,the. glprj/pf;ffig.king dom. And then; will be the - dawning of millennialgloryjand amidstthejubilee of the pnee grPaningbut now regelated universe-—by ways eye hath ; n6t. .sbeh, -ear hath not heard,andthe imagination of man hath not conceived—will be re alised that, bright andglofiiua consum mation of the sighifligs and longings, and aspirations, and desires of the /Church mUitant throughout all ages of nme,fand in all regions of the world. ' (Loud cheers.) J ‘ ; / ; THE HUBSEBIES OP BOOHESTEB. These nurseries are well-khdwn to b, the most numerous, and . extensive r America, and embrace several thou sand acres in the aggregate. There sales are said to range between one andT two; millions of dofiais annually. A corrpspendent gives in a late num ber of the Mural New Yorker > the names of all the principaf nurserymen in the vicinity of Bochester, heading, the fist with Ellwanger & . Barry, who have about; 600 , acres; and Frost & Co., who occupy about SM, and also the.following of less extent:— r Samuel Mpulsoh, 250 acres ; C. J. Kyan & Co., 200 : to 250 acres; Hooker, Earley & Co., Brighton, 200 acres ; T. B. Yale & Co-, Brighton, 200 acres; W. M. Hoyt, Brighton, 150 acres; Gould, Beckwith & Co., Brighton, 100 ; Moore Brothers, Brighton, 150 acres; H. B. Hooker & Co., ISO acres; Kobert Don nelly & Brother, Greece, 100. acres.; O. S. Mills & Co., 100 acres; Pelldws & CO., PenfieW, SO to 100 acresS. Boardpan, Brighton, 75 acres; Wi&Bt and. Davis, Irondcquoit, 75 acres; Poster HCyt— acres; Howe & Howis, Brighton, 75 acres; D. McCarthy & Co,,Brighton, 75 acres; G. G. MoKinatar, Irondeqnoit, 76 acres; C. yf . Beelye, Central Nurse ries, 75 acres ; Thomas Hayward, Pitts [ ford, 50 to 75 acres; Pish & Bro., Gates, 140 to 60 acres; A. C. Wheeler, Brigh ton, 40 to 50 acres; J. B. Homs, Brighton, 40 to 50 ; Balter & Anthony, 40 to 50 here*; Dn[ef,MaBh.& Co., S'® deres; 8. ; B. Kelly, Brighton, 85 acres; !Bi W-. Bassett, Brighton, 35 acres ; B. Millard, Pittsford,—abrSs; Lyon & Him! 4-, acres; Huntington & : 00.,:25 to acres; Asa Anthony, Gates, 25 .acres; J. Wentz, Brighton, 15 to 20 acres; Waa. King, 10 acres; Brooks# Go*, 10 acres; Geo, Cooper, Iron dequoit, 10 acres ; :C. Crosmafi, 10 acres, - 295