DR. M'LEOD'S REPORT 
 
 PARIS CONFERENCE, AUGUST, 1855. 
 
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DR. M'LEOD'S REPORT 
 
 ON THE 
 
 PARIS CONFERENCE, AUGUST, 1855. 
 
 (Published by order of Synod. See Minutes, May, 1856.) 
 
 It is said that the idea of the Westminster Assembly originated with Alexan- 
 der Henderson. It was the gi-eat conception of a great mind. A mind that 
 loved order, that lamented over the fragmentary condition of the Church of 
 God, that was filled with benevolence for men, and largely expanded by the love 
 of Christ. The thought was worthy of the man who penned the "Solemn League 
 and Covenant," who presided over the famous Glasgow Assembly of 1638, whom 
 Scotland chose, in preference to all her civilians, to treat with Charles the First, 
 and who, more than any other, moderated, directed, and gave tone to the West- 
 minster Assembly when it met. Standing in the midst of this convention of 
 great and good men, whose works still " praise them in the gate," he towered 
 above them all. The object that filled his eye was a Protestant Union for the 
 world. A union to oppose the Man of Sin, to magnii'y the truth, to purify the 
 Church, and to carry the Gospel to all the nations of the earth. For nothing 
 short of this was the ultimate end of the Assembly's efforts. The day for this 
 had, however, not yet come. The project but partially succeeded ; its realization 
 was postponed till later years, but it will one day be effected. The Church shall 
 be one and her name one, over all the earth. " For the mouth of the Lord has 
 spoken it." After this object, evangelical Christians over the world are again 
 beginning to feel. And even this is one of the signs of the times of marked 
 encouragement. 
 
 On Wednesday morning, August 19th, 1846, some eight hundred Christian 
 men sat down together in Freemason's Hall, in London, to deliberate on the pro- 
 posal to form an Evangelical Alliance for the world. They had come from all 
 parts of trreat Britain and Ireland, from various nations on the continent of 
 Europe, from several missionary stations in the Heathen world, and from the 
 United States of Republican America. They were ministers of the Gospel and 
 distinguished laymen from some forty denominations of the Church of Christ j 
 and they represented together the Christianity of half the globe. 
 
 They organized ; they conferred together on the interests of Christ's kingdom ; 
 they adopted a declaration of i-eligious principles, and a platform of consistent 
 co-operation among themselves; they prayed together; they enjoyed the com- 
 munion of saints ; they fostered the spirit of love for Christ and for his body the 
 Church; and they went forth, understanding each other better than ever they had 
 done before, to labor anew in the Redeemer's service. 
 
 There was much in which the Evangelical Alliance of 1846, and the Westmin- 
 ster Assembly of 164H, are seen to differ; but there is much also in which they 
 agreed. Their common object was, to declare, exemplify, and promote the essen- 
 tial unity of the one true Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 The London " Evangelical Alliance" was a fine exemplification of Protestant 
 unity. It was from this the Paris Conference originated. The scene, however, is 
 now changed. It is transferred from the ' metropolis' of Protestant England to 
 the metropolis of semi- Papal, semi-infidel France — for here Anticliristian super- 
 stition and blank infidelity are struggling for the mastery. And what is this but 
 the house of Satan divided against itself, and which must consequently fall ? 
 
 1 
 
2 
 
 The Conference of Paris was called by the French branch of the Evangelical 
 Alliance ; and yet was not formally a meetino; of the Alliance as a whole. Per- 
 haps, however, it was as near it as the circumstances of the case would at all 
 permit. 
 
 Tlie place in which the Assembly met was France, whose whole population is 
 now estimated at thirty-two millions. Of these the Protestants of all descriptions 
 number a little over two millions, and of these again a very large proportion have 
 declined into formality, rationalism, and lifeless disregard of the vital truths of 
 the Gospel, which show that they are Protestants only in the name. Still there 
 is a true Church of Christ in France — a " Burning Bush" in this moral wilder- 
 ness, which neither the fires of Papal superstition have been able to consume, 
 nor the cold water-floods of rationalistic philosophy to extinguish. And it 
 was ai'ound this Little Burning Bush of French Protestantism, and French saint- 
 ship, as its pure light amidst the surrounding darkness showed them the way and 
 attracted them to it, that the Christian men of various nations, and of various 
 tongues that formed the Paris Conference, came together in love and sympathy. 
 Here they rallied. Here they learned to know and love one another, as the 
 light shined upon their countenances, while they prayed and talked together. 
 Here they warmed themselves into a delightful glow of sanctified activity. And 
 from this fraternal gathering around the unconsumable Bush, they passed away, 
 resolved to value their own religious privileges, and to do more than ever for 
 France, for truth, for Christ, and for the world, in peril of its life. 
 
 God has not preserved the " Burning Bush" of French Christianity, of the 
 French Reformed Church — once a burning and shining light among the other 
 churches of the Reformation — to permit it to be extinguished now. There is 
 light enough there, only let it be diffused, to illuminate all the thirty millions 
 of the French people now " sitting in darkness, and under the shadow of death." 
 And it shall be done. For the time is at hand when the voice of her and our 
 Redeemer shall be heard proclaiming to our French Protestant Zion, "Arise, 
 shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." 
 
 Nor was it in some distant corner of irreligious France, some isolated spot in 
 its far-off valleys, or among its southern mountains, where the blood of martyrs 
 had been shed bj^ the relentless persecutor in bygone days, that the assembly of 
 Evangelical Christians, of which we are speaking, met and acted. But it was in 
 the heart of the capital. In Paris itself. In that great city of some two millions 
 of people, which knows no Sabbath ; whose temples are devoted to superstition, 
 whose God is itself, and whose bloody revolutions, perpetually occurring, are the 
 punishments of its own transgressions. 
 
 Kor xvas the time on which the Conference assembled less remarkable than the 
 place of its meeting. The British Monarchy and the French Empire are now in 
 amity, though ancient enemies. A special alliance bands them together against 
 the Russian Autocrat, and in token of their friendship, the Emperor of France 
 has invited the English Queen to visit his capital, and receive its hospitalities. 
 Paris has put on its gayest attire. The season of the visit of her Majesty of 
 England is a grand holiday. The streets are filled with strangers from the 
 other side of the Channel, and from all other parts of the world, and mirth and 
 jollity rule the hour. But there is mingled with the mere seekers of pleasure 
 from the British dominions, a large number of the people of God. whom the ex- 
 pected meeting of Christians has brought together, rather than the "Palace of 
 Industry of all Nations," or the presence of their lady sovereign. Some of these 
 are of the nobility and gentry of the land. And there is no doubt that Queen 
 Victoria knew that the Conference was proposed before she came to France, and 
 that it was in session while she was enjoying the hospitality of its metropolis. It 
 is a matter of fact that one of the Queen's maids of honor was in attendance at 
 the sessions of the Conference, and it was generally believed that her presence 
 there was not only to gratify her own Christian tastes, but also to convey 
 authentic information of its proceedings to her royal mistress. The government 
 of France were doubtless well aware that the allowance of such assemblies was 
 a part of the religious liberty of Great Britain, and they could not i-efuse, at 
 least for the time being, to permit the citizens of England to mingle and act with 
 their own in a religious convocation of a similar character. The right of their 
 citizens, too, to worship God, and practise the duties of their religion when in 
 foreign lands, had also been affirmed by the government of the United States, 
 
and the attention of the Continental monarchies had been called to the subject, 
 as one of public policy. It was, indeed, a wonderful crisis that now existed iu 
 the affairs of the nations, an opportune moment for the contemplated meeting. 
 And it was improved. The Conference assembled. They worshipped God in 
 freedom. They gathered information. Tliey declared their sympathies with the 
 brethren of France in the serious disabilities under which they labor, and they 
 prepared their memorials to the French Emperor, and other crowned heads of 
 Europe and Asia, asserting the principles of civil and religious freedom, ^nd 
 asking that their subjects might not be hindered from practising their religion 
 according to their conscientious convictions. 
 
 Nor is that a coincidence of times unworthy of notice, that brought the prin- 
 cipal meetings of the Conference on the anniversary of the Massacre of St. Bar- 
 tholomew. Those three days of infamy during which the persecutor reigned over 
 France, and drenched the streets, and pavements, and even the palaces of the capital 
 with the best blood of her martyred sons. To be even suspected of a preference 
 for the Reformed Religion was a capital offence, and sufficient to bring death in its 
 most terrible forms. 
 
 " How the times are changed !" said Pastor Grand Pierre, of the National 
 Reformed Church of France, when opening as President the sitting of the 
 Conference for August 23d. Some three hundred years ago, a potent monarch 
 fired a pistol-shot through a window of the Louvre, and the great Ijell on a mag 
 nificent church rang out its fearful tones amid the darkness of a wild night 
 Then there was weeping, and the blood of multitudes flowed, because they would 
 have for themselves the inalienable right of worshipping God according to his 
 word and their own convictions of duty. On the three hundredth anniversary of 
 that dreadful slaughter of the saints of the most High, more than two hundred 
 servants of Christ, from almost every part of Christendom, met in this very 
 capital to confer about the diffusion of that same Protestant Evangelical religion, 
 for which, then, many were called to lay down their lives. Nearly three centuries 
 have passed away, and now an Emperor Napoleon receives into his palace, as an 
 honored guest, the Protestant Queen of a great Protestant nation ; while we, 
 descendants of the persecuted Christians of those days, are assembled in this 
 capital to meet our co-religionists, not only of France, but of the entire world, 
 and that without fear." 
 
 There is meaning in these coincidences. The Divine Head of the Church, in 
 whose hand our times are, has himself arranged them. And the meeting of such 
 a convocation, at such a time, and in such a place, is itself a glorious forshadow- 
 ing of the blessed day when France shall rank with the evangelized nations of 
 the earth, born, it may be, in a day, and when Paris, with its Notre Dame, and 
 Madeleine, its Louvre, and its Pantheon, shall constitute a mighty temple, in which 
 its renovated millions shall worship the only living and true God. Much of the 
 chai'acter and power for good of the Parisian Conference are derived from the 
 time, place, and circumstances in which it met, and to these, .therefore, it was 
 necessary to make an extended allusion. 
 
 It is time, however, that we should now come to a consideration of the Body 
 itself, and its proceedings. 
 
 The card of admission which was put into the hands of the members, as it had 
 been prepared by the Committee of the French branch of the Evangelical Alliance, 
 entitled the intended meeting 
 
 " An Assembly of Evangelical CnatsTiANS from ilie iiiliole world.'''' In 
 another printed paper the basis of admission to membership was presented in the 
 following words, both being in the French, German, and English tongues. 
 
 "The Conference admits to the number of its members all Christians who 
 ■wish to live in fraternal love, and desire to confess with it, conformably to the 
 inspired Scriptures of God, their common faith in God, their Saviour; in the 
 Father who has loved them, and who justifies them by grace, through faith in his 
 Son ; in the Son who has redeemed them by his expiatory sacrifice ; and in the 
 Holy Spirit, the author of their regeneration and sanctification, one only God, 
 eternally blessed, to whose glory they desire to consecrate their lives." 
 
 Upon this platform, but mainly upon the ground of their known and avowed 
 character as Evangelical Protestant Christians, the members came together. All 
 was confidence and hope. There was no suspicion, and no conflict. But all 
 was love, kindness, forbearance, and mutual esteem. Whde each heart was tilled 
 
with zeal for the glory of the Saviour, and earnest desire for the extension of 
 his kingdom, no man was pledged to approve of anything to which he did not 
 cordially agree, r^or relinquish any part of his profession for the truth of God. 
 A beautiful Christian courtesy reigned continually over the Assembly, and had 
 the enemy been present, he might have truly said, as in times of old, " Behold 
 these Christians, how they love one another!" 
 
 For some reason not explained, no roll of the membership of the Conference 
 was made, as a whole. Over twelve hundred tickets were issued. And there 
 could not have been less than two hundred and fifty or three hundred present 
 from foreign countries. Of these, about one hundred were from Great Britain 
 and Ireland, and thirty-seven from the United States. The countries represented 
 were. Finance, Great Britain, America, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, 
 Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Turkey, and Africa. All, or nearly all the 
 Protestant Churches of the Old World, both National and Dissenting, were pre- 
 sent. The United States were represented by ministers of standing, and others 
 of at least seven different denominations ; and the evangelized heathen world by 
 some of its most experienced and well-beloved missionary brethren. The Mode- 
 rators of the General Assembly of the free Church of Scotland, of the Synod 
 of English Presbyterians, of the United Presbyterians in Scotland, and of the 
 General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States, were 
 present. The King of Prussia sent his chaplain, in the person of the well-known 
 Krumacher; and the King of Sweden, one of his chaplains, a distinguished minis- 
 ter of the National Church. There were present also many learned professors of 
 Colleges, and Universities, and Theological Schools; authors known to the world; 
 officers of Missionary and other Christian Associations ; pastors of Evangelical 
 Churches of various names; and influential and pious laymen of all occupations 
 and professions. Seven different languages were spoken, and yet, one heart and 
 one mind animated them all. They had come together, not as polemics to discuss 
 their differences, but as one in the common truth and love, to provoke one another 
 to love and good works, and especially to give sympathy and aid to the brethren 
 of France and other countries, persecuted by a tyrannical State, or a still more 
 tyrannical Church behind it. They held in their hands the harp of peace, which 
 they swept with the fingers of love, and in blessed concord they praised the 
 common God of their salvation. And it was the experience of many, as the 
 business of the Conference proceeded, from day to day, that they were elevated 
 often to the summits of the Delectable Mountains of holy Christian communion, 
 from which they could, by faith, behold the dawnings of that blessed day when 
 " the watchmen on Zion's walls should see eye to eye, and sing with the voice 
 together," the Lord having remembered Zion. 
 
 During the twelve days that the Conference continued together, twenty public 
 sittings were held, and in the intervals numerous meetings of a more retired 
 character, for prayer, conference, and public religious instruction. 
 
 The noble mansion of a Christian female of large wealth, of deep and earnest 
 piety, and full of all good works, was thrown open to all the members of the Con- 
 ference during its sessions. Here they often met to exchange their Christian 
 salutations, to speak of what God had done for their souls, and of the extension 
 of his kino'dom, and to encourage one another to love and good works, while all 
 was sanctified with the word of God and prayer. They who enjoyed these happy 
 " reunions," as they are styled by the brethren of France, will not soon forget 
 Madame Andre's hospitable house. 
 
 " Gains, mine host — salute 1" 
 
 Let a sketch of two or three of the meetings suffice as a specimen of them 
 all. 
 
 After a variety of meetings of a preliminary character given to the Young 
 Men's Christian Associations of France, England, the United States, and other 
 countries, to h(>aring I'eports of the state of religion from several branches of the 
 Evangelical Alliance on the continent, and to prayer and praise," Tlie Great Con- 
 ference was inaugurated" to translate the language of the French report, by an 
 assembly for prayer in the Church of the Redemption. There are but three or 
 four church edifices proper, in Paris, for Protestant worship. Of these, the 
 Church of the Oratory is the principal. It was once a Popish temple, and falling 
 into the hands of the government in one of the civil revolutions, it was assigned 
 to the National Reformed Church for their worship. We worshipped there one 
 
Sabbath evening, and found that a small section of one of the great aisles of the 
 vast building viras all that was needed for the accommodation of those by whom it 
 was frequented. A large curtain of rough green baize was stretched across the 
 aisles ; a pulpit of the plainest wood was placed against it. The marble floor 
 was covered with strips of the homeliest straw matting, and the audience gene- 
 rally sat upon the simplest kind of chairs, disposed in rows and capable of 
 removal. The apartment thus awkwardly constructed would hold, we presume, 
 some three hundred people, fiere the eloquent orator Coquerel peiwerts the truth, 
 and dishonors the Saviour by his Socinian philosophy ; and here, too, in strange 
 conjunction, Adolph Monod,* who is said to be the most eloquent preacher in 
 France, proclaims and urges the truth by which he himself gives evidence that 
 he is sanctified. On the occasion on which we were present. Dr. Urwick of 
 Dublin, preached the Gospel with point and power. None of the sessions of the 
 Conference were held in the Chapel of the Oratory. 
 
 " The Church of the Redemption" is a small, neat, but coarse and unpretend- 
 ing edifice of brick. When we entered it, we were struck with the exceeding plain- 
 ness of material and arrangement by which it is distinguished. There is no 
 ornament of any description. No window, but in the roof, no cushioned seats, 
 no choir, or altar. Like our own ordinary churches, it was arranged with pews 
 and galleries, and yet all was comfortable for the spiritual worshipper who came to 
 pray and receive instruction. It seemed to be the effort of all concerned to 
 draw the line as distinctly as possible, between the simple Church of Christ, and 
 the gorgeous, imposing, and deceptive temples of the Antichristian superstition 
 around it. 
 
 There was one object only which attracted the eye, and furnished an exception 
 to this general rule of extreme simplicity. It was a small, but as a work of art, 
 highly beautiful and finished image of the Saviour on the cross. The image was 
 of ivory, while the cross to which it was affixed was of some jet black material, 
 which brought out its points with great distinctness. It stood in a very con- 
 spicuous place, on a table beside the pulpit, which was in a corner of the house, 
 and before it lay, on a velvet cushion, an open Bible. Surprised at this sight in 
 a Protestant place of worship, we asked an explanation from Pastor Cuvier, one 
 of the ministers of the church, a man of venerable appearance, and a nephew of 
 the great naturalist of the same name. " We keep it there," was the amount of 
 his language, " as an evident testimony to our belief in the supreme Godhead of 
 Jesus Christ." The Roman Catholics ai-ound us class us all with the Unitarians 
 who deny the Saviour's divinity and atonement. " We keep tltat image there, to 
 shoio that we loorship not Mary, but Christ, and God tltrovyh him." The excellent 
 pastor did not profess to justify its presence there on any other ground than the 
 supposed expediency of the case. The Church of the Redemption belongs to 
 the Lutherans, who are somewhat numerous in France, and we saw no paintings 
 or images, of any kind, in any of the other Protestant Churches. 
 
 The service consisted in singing praise, reading the Scriptures, and four 
 prayers, two of which were offered in French by Pastors Vallette and Fisch, a 
 third in English by Rev. Baptist Noel, and another by Rev. F. W. Krumacher, 
 of Berlin, and chaplain to the King of Prussia. In all, there was the most per- 
 fect simplicity of thought and manner. The singing was plain, solemn, sweet, 
 attractive. No instruments of music, no choir, no leader to be seen. And all 
 the congregation sang with hearty good will. The chief feature of the prayers 
 was their simple earnestness. The French and Germans seemed to put out their 
 souls, when they stood up to pray, as they always did. And their prayers seemed 
 to abound with confessions of sin, repeated references to the three Persons in the 
 adorable Godhead, and strong appeals to Christ and the Holy Spirit, as God. 
 Reading, and offering remarks from the Scriptures woi^ld seem to have a very 
 prominent place in the i-eligious sei'vices of the French Protestant Church. In- 
 deed, the whole service here and elsewhere is substantially the same as that 
 which prevails in our own (the Reformed Presbyterian Church), and the reason 
 is evident. They are of common origin. The service is that of the ancient 
 Reformation Church, as she returned to the primitive model which Popery had 
 corrupted. And to this, the churches will come back, when they have tried out 
 all their experiments — only let men be patient. Thus, the meeting which intro- 
 duced the sittings of the Assembly was purely devotional, as it should have been. 
 
 * Deceased since this was written. 
 
As we looked over the numerous congregation of prompt, earnest, engaged, and 
 perfectly decorous worshippers, of both sexes, and of all conditions, we came to 
 the conclusion that there are still very many of God's people among the down- 
 trodden Protestants of France. And we saw here a fine exemplification of the 
 communion of saints. The most of those who came from other countries were 
 unknown to each other, but they had fellowship together, and with God in Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 0/t Friday, lUJi Awpist, at 10 o'clock a. m., the meeting for Great Britain took 
 place, in the same Church of the Redemption. Sir Culling E. Eardley, an English 
 Baronet and member of the present Parliament, presided. He is an intelligent, 
 earnest, accomplished Christian man, of great wealth, and of greater weight of 
 character, and devoting a large part of his time and means to the extension of 
 the kingdom of Jesus Christ. He was supported as one of the Vice Presidents 
 by the well-known Protestant Irish nobleman. Lord Roden, and surrounded on all 
 sides by ministers and laymen of distinction. A letter was read from the Earl of 
 Shaftesbury, the great champion of civil and religious liberty in England, apolo- 
 gizing for his absence, by tenderly referring to the recent death of his son. A 
 report, of great interest, and in much detail, of the religious condition of Great 
 Britain and Ireland, was presented. Prayers and praises were offered, and ad- 
 dresses, suited to the time and place, were made by the President, Mr. Dallas, Dr. 
 Craik, Rev. Norman McLeod, Dr. Henderson, Mr. Johnston, Dr. Urwick, Dr. 
 Bates, of Glasgow, and others, representing almost all the Protestant denomina- 
 tions of Great Britaiii and Ireland. While these proceedings of high interest 
 were taking place, and while the spirits of all were stirred by the appeals which 
 had been made to them, the President arose, and referred in touching language to 
 the fact that this was the anniversary of the day when the great slaughter of the 
 French Protestants was commenced in Paris, by the command of Charles the 
 Ninth. He called the attention of the assembly to the altered circumstances in 
 which they were now met, even within the sound of the same bell that had fur- 
 nished the signal for the murder of God's saints, on St. Bartholomew's day, some 
 three centuries before. And he ended by making the proposal, that after the 
 meeting had adjourned, some of the brethren would go with him to the Louvre, 
 and there, upon the very pavement where the massacre commenced, stand, and 
 give thanks to God in prayer for his continued preservation of his cause in France, 
 notwithstanding the efforts of the enemy to destroy it. The thing was done, 
 though the passing crowd Avere ignorant of it, and the petitions and thanksgiving 
 of his people went up fi-om this place, so unusual, into the ears of the " Lord God 
 of Sabaoth." 
 
 Saturday, 2?>th, in the morning, was devoted to what was familiarly called ilie 
 American meeting. Mr. George H. Stuart, merchant, of Philadelphia, a Christian 
 philanthi-opist whose praise is in the churches, was invited to preside. Prayer 
 was offered, in French, by Rev. Mr. Presense and in English by Rev. Mr. Comingo, 
 of Ohio. Some twenty-seven individuals, clergymen, physicians, merchants, and 
 statesmen, answered to their names, and were introduced to the audience. A 
 great interest was excited in the assembly by this presentation, and a warm and 
 hearty welcome tendered to the brethren on the part of the French Churches, by 
 Rev. Dr. Grand Pierre, in French, and Rev. Fred. Monod, in English. 
 
 The President addressed the assembly in earnest and effective language, and 
 at once communicated to his audience a large measure of the enthusiasm by 
 which his own heart was filled. His theme was the work which American Chris- 
 tians have to do in giving the Gospel to their own rapidly increasing population, 
 and to the worH, and the instrumentalities by which they are doing it. He 
 recipi'ocated the fraternal welcome which the brethren in France had given to his 
 countrymen, and assured them of the lively sympathies of the American 
 Churches. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Baird, the old friend of Evangelical Christianity in France, as one of 
 the French papers styles him, read an elaborate and highly interesting report, in 
 which the religious condition of the United States was described in detail, and 
 in which the most valuable lessons of instruction, economical, political, moral, 
 and religious, were conveyed. It excited the deepest interest, and often called 
 for the approbation of the audience, who waited on its prolonged announcements 
 with the utmo.st patience. Rev. Dr Patton, of New York, Rev. T. W. J. Wylie, 
 of Philadelphia, Hon. Mr. Goble, of New Jersey, and others, addressed the meet- 
 
ing, and amidst the salutations of the French and other foi'eign brethren, and the 
 earnest welcomes which were tendered by many a friendly hand, though no 
 words were spoken, this, one of the most effective gatherings of this eventful 
 week, was brought to its termination. 
 
 We never saw the practical argument for the capacity of men for self-govern- 
 ment, and of the Church to sustain herself by the voluntary efforts of her mem- 
 bers, more strongly illustrated and enforced, than in the telling statements of this 
 meeting ; and it was because of the deep interest they felt in these questions, 
 that the brethren of other countries were so attracted by the information they 
 were receiving. Repuhlicanism, founded on and guided by the Bible, was in 
 good repute that day, in Paris ; and the self sustaining power of the Church, with 
 only the recognition and protection of the State, to give her countenance, was 
 felt to be demonstrated. 
 
 The wise men of England, France, Germany, Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, and 
 other monarchical countries, were there, and taking notes, and they will not soon 
 forget the lessons which were taught them. , 
 
 Another meeting, held on the 29th August, in the Church of the Redemption, 
 was of special interest. Its subject, as announced in the programme, was " Mis- 
 sions Evangeliques" (Evangelical Missions)., The writer of this was called upon 
 to pi-eside, and introduced the exercises with a brief address. After the reading 
 of the Scriptures, and prayer by Rev. Mons. Blanc, a report, proposed by Dr. 
 Barth, and read by Pastor Vallette, was presented. It gave an account of the 
 progress of the Gospel for the past three years, through the world, and was full 
 of most interesting fact and principle. This was followed by an address of great 
 power by Professor Sardinieux, of Montauban, where the school of Theology of the 
 Reformed Church of France is established. Rev. Mr. Langa, a returned mis- 
 sionary from Africa, Rev. Messrs. Monod, Dr. Cook, Sir Culling Eardley, and Dr. 
 Duff, also spoke. The latter had recently arrived in this c-ity, anxious to give 
 his countenance to the proceedings of the Convention, and although still in im- 
 perfect health, was enabled to come forth on this his own great theme, with his 
 usual point and power. The Doctor spoke in English. When he concluded, 
 Rev. Mr. Fred. Monod, one of the Pastors of the Free Church of France, 
 translated the substance, and much of the manner of the speaker, into French 
 words and French action. The effect was electric. Excitement became great 5 
 some could not refrain from speaking out their feelings, and many were bathed in 
 tears. Dr. Duff's allusions to the past history of the persecuted Reformed Church 
 of France, and to the difficulties under which she at present labors ; his exhor- 
 tations to the ministry and people to be faithful to their cause, although now in 
 the minority, to preach and hear the Gospel in spite of the opposition of their 
 rulers, and his energetic declaration, " that there must be more martyrs in 
 France before religious liberty was universally enjoyed," aroused the audience to 
 the highest enthusiasm. After a few stirring observations by Sir Culling Eardley, 
 Professor Sardineux called upon them to rise and sing one of their own " Cau- 
 tiques" adapted to present circumstances. This was done with great solemnity 
 and emotion. The Professor then addressed them with great earnestness, and 
 called upon them to pledge themselves, as in the presence of Christ, to be faithful 
 to his cause. He called upon them to swear to the divine Saviour, to do a hun- 
 dred fold more than they had ever done before for his glory, and, then, pausing, 
 asked. What do you reply ? At this moment many, both males and females, arose 
 and held up the right hand, as in the attitude of swearing to Almighty God. 
 Thus they literally complied with the demand of the speaker. We have never 
 seen a more resolute, calm, and yet deeply impassioned set of human counte- 
 nances than we saw before us in the Protestant Church of the Redemption on 
 that memorable day. And we left the scene with the persuasion, that there is 
 far more true religion in France than is generally supposed in our own country, 
 and throughout the world. There is stuff' for martyx's there yet. The good seed 
 of truth sown at the Reformation, and watered by the blood of thousands of 
 martyrs, has not all perished. Even in Papal and infidel France there is a 
 remnant according to the election of grace, and it will show itself in the hour 
 both of trial and of triumph. So we have written elsewhere, and here we repeat 
 our impressions. On subsequent days similar meetings were held for Belgium 
 and Holland, Germany, Sweden and Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Hun- 
 gary, and the Jews, and, in all of these, reports were presented of commanding 
 
8 
 
 interest. Such were some of the transactions of this great meeting, whose im- 
 portance, we believe, can hardly be oveiTated. 
 
 And is the question asked, what after all are the practical results of this strange 
 convocation in the French metropolis ? Our answer is, the ultimate results are 
 known only to Him, who by a special providence brought together the elements 
 of which it was composed, from various lands, over stormy seas, and to many 
 who were present, in a way hardly known to themselves. The consequences 
 imtnediately evident are these. 
 
 First — That the French Protestants have been encouraged and animated by 
 the sympathies and fellowship of their brethren of other countries. Persecuted; 
 down-trodden, discouraged, and in many places almost in despair, the proposal; 
 and meeting of the Conference have called them out 5 brought them to know and 
 act together ; taught them the strength they really have, and given them the as- 
 surance that the rest of the Church of the one Loi-d Jesus, has not forgotten 
 them. Of the two millions of liominal Protestants in France, a very large pro- 
 portion have never heard a preached Gospel, becaus-e they have not been per- 
 mitted to preach or hear it. They cannot, even now, meet for social worship, 
 without express permission, in numbers greater than twenty, and this permission 
 is often withheld on the most frivolous pretexts. A tract cannot be circulated 
 without it bears the black mark of the Governmental Censorship. And the mem- 
 bers of the Conference that did meet, were not allowed to come together, until 
 an express permission was asked and received in writing from the Government, 
 and one of its conditions was, that the whole should be supervised by the proper 
 authorities. Thus oppressed, and these are only some of their oppressions, it was 
 right and Christian, and approved of Jesus Christ, to go and speak to them, for 
 their encouragement. 
 
 But, second. A v(ist amount of the most vahiahlf informatio^i, statistical^ 
 moral, and religions, was brought together and diffused by the Paris Conference. 
 The reports prepared, the inquiries answered, and the intelligence given in the 
 written and spoken addresses that were delivered, embodied a mass of informa- 
 tion. A volume is now preparing in Paris (we had expected to see it ere this) 
 in which all this intelligence will be digested and given to the world. And we 
 will venture to say that it will furnish information of the religious condition of 
 the world nowhere else to be found. It will be a chapter in church history highly 
 glorifying to God and encouraging to his Church. But, again — 
 
 Third. The Paris Conference brought together Christian men to hiotv aud 
 love one another, and to offer jjrager to God for the coming of the Kingdom of 
 his Son. Were we to look at the assembly simply as a great prayer meeting, 
 continuing for so many days, is there any good too great to be expected, as sooner 
 or later to be found proceeding from it ? Christians of every name brought to 
 the footstool of the throne in the midst of irreligious Paris — and the incense of 
 prayer ascending from the churches, and lodging houses, and even the pavements 
 of the palaces where the blood of the saints had flowed 1 God will not refuse to 
 hear prayer. It was to bless France, that this Christian convocation, meeting in 
 the spirit of prayer, was assembled in its capital. But, again — 
 
 Fourth. The Paris Conference was an exenijjlif ration of Protestant tinity — 
 the unity, with all her circumstantial differences, of the true Church of Jesus 
 Christ. The boasted unity of the Church of Rome is the unity of the ice- 
 berg — hard, cold, deceptive, dangerous. The unity of the Protestant Church 
 is the unity of the living body. There are, indeed, many members, but the one 
 body — and that body is warm, lively, and full of hope. We believe the arrange- 
 ment of the French police, by which the Conference was broken up into frag- 
 ments, and never allowed to come together as one grand whole, was an adroit 
 device of the Church of Rome to prevent the effects of a great visible demonstra- 
 tion of Protestant unity. " The Popish jme.sts govern France," said one of the 
 great men of the Conference, who was well informed upon the subject. And 
 how they have governed let her past and present history reply. By and by the 
 true Church will find all her divisions healed, and her own essential unity made 
 visible to the world. In the meantime, hear the cry of the representatives of the 
 Churches, as they stand upon the platform of the Paris Conference, high above 
 the papal and infidel world around them. It is. We are one — We are one!