§ Mr. Bannermansaid, that he was prevented by the immediate termination of the Session, from calling the attention of the House to the memorial from the Moderator of the General Assembly to the first Lord of the Treasury on the subject of Church accommodation in Scotland, agreeably to the notice which he had previously given. He should therefore merely say that if he had had the opportunity of bringing his motion forward, he should 1855 have endeavoured to have proved that the course pursued by several of the Scotch clergy as well as others, so far as the Church of Scotland was concerned, had been most unwise; and, so far as his Majesty's Ministers were concerned, had been most unjust and ungenerous. So far as being unconnected with the Church of Scotland he was circumstanced similarly to the hon. Baronet the Member for Bute, who had lately called the attention of the House to this subject; but he begged to assure the House that he was as anxious as that hon. Baronet to see the Church of Scotland upheld. He should, however, have objected to his late Majesty's Government deciding upon any partial question relating to that Church. He should have opposed their taking any steps with reference to Glasgow, or Aberdeen, or Edinburgh until the subject had been thoroughly investigated. In the meantime, this Church extension question, as he had anticipated, was now made a handle of for electioneering purposes in Scotland. He should be sorry to occupy the attention of the House with anything in which he was personally concerned, but he could not refrain from adverting to a document that had lately emanated from an electioneering Committee, in which allusion was made to the Church Commission in Scotland, and in which it was stated, that it was impossible for the friends of that Church to overlook the petition for the overthrow of the Establishment in that country, which had been presented by Mr. Bannerman, without one word of objection on the part of that gentleman. This document set forth that the petition in question came from persons who cared not for reason, truth, or consistency, and who, disregarding the councils of the wise and good, sought the overthrow of religion, treated its injunctions with scorn, and held up its ordinances to derision. Such were the terms in which these parties, for election purposes, thought proper to speak of the petition which he (Mr. Bannerman) had presented to the House. Now, he begged to say that he never did present any petition for the overthrow of the Establishment, and yet he was described by these persons as one who was totally void of religion, of consistency, or of truth. This manifesto was put forth at a time when the parties well knew that he was five hundred miles distant. But they very soon should know that he had remained in London for the purpose of 1856 moving for certain returns to enable the Government to facilitate the settlement of this Church question. The hon. Gentleman moved for a return of the number of churches erected in Scotland by voluntary contributions recognised by the General Assembly, and whose ministers were appointed by the Kirk. Also a return of the number of seats in every such church, specifying the mode in which they were appropriated; likewise a return of the stipends paid to the ministers of every such Church, and the sources whence those stipends were derived; together with the sums annually collected for the support and education of the poor in every such place of worship.
§ Motion agreed to.