them put themselves in instant
communication with their member, and, stating the character of the
report which so generally exists to his prejudice, request a
categorical answer regarding it,--let them request an avowal of his
opinion of the Duke's policy, equally articulate with that opinion
which the Hon. Mr. Fox Maule submitted to the public a few weeks ago
in the columns of the _Witness_,--and then, as the ascertained
circumstances of the case may direct, let them act, and that publicly,
in strict accordance with their principles. Of one thing they may be
assured,--the example will tell.

In order to raise the necessary amount of opinion for carrying the
ulterior object--the enactment of a law--there are various most
justifiable expedients to which the friends of toleration in the
country should find it not difficult to resort. Petitions addressed to
the Lower House in its legislative capacity, and to the members of the
Upper House as a body of men who have, perhaps, of all others the most
direct stake in the matter--we need scarce say how--ought, of course,
to take a very obvious place on the list. Much, too, might be done by
deputations from the General Assembly of the Free Church, instructed
from time to time to ascertain, and then publicly to report on, the
state of Sutherland. Each meeting of the Assembly might be addressed
on the subject by some of its ablest men, in which case their
statements and speeches would go forth, through the medium of the
press, to the country at large. The co-operation and assistance of all
bodies of evangelical Dissenters, both at home and abroad, should be
sedulously sought after, and correct information on the subject
circulated among them extensively. There has been much sympathy
elicited for the Church, during her long struggle, among good men
everywhere. Her cause has been tried, and judgment given in her
favour, in France, Holland, and America, and in not a few of the
colonies. In the case of Sismondi 'On the _Clearing_ of Sutherland,'
we see the opinion of a continental philosopher re-echoed back upon
our own country, not without its marked effect; and it might be well
to try whether the effect of foreign opinion might not be at least
equally influential 'On the Suppression of the Toleration Laws in
Sutherland.' There is one great country with which we hold our
literature in common, and which we can address, and by which we can be
in turn addressed, in our native tongue. U