Having been invited by Mr. Dickson, an Elder of the Free Church, to address a mid-day meeting of children in the Free Assembly Hall,—and the Saturday before the Meeting of Assembly having now arrived without bringing any reply to my note to be received and heard, I determined to call at the Free Church Offices, and make inquiries at least. They treated me with all possible kindness and sympathy, but explained to me the strange perplexity that had been introduced into my case. A letter had been forwarded to them from the _Dayspring_ Board at Sydney, intimating that the Victorian Church had no right to commission me to raise a new Steam-Auxiliary Ship without consulting them, and that they placed their direct veto upon the Free Church Authorities in any way sanctioning that proposal or authorizing me to raise the money. Here, then, was the rift; and many things that had recently perplexed me were explained thereby. Here is not the place to discuss our differences, nor shall I take advantage of my book to criticize those who have no similar opportunity of answering me. But the facts I must relate, and exactly as they occurred, to show how the Lord over-ruled everything for the accomplishment of His own blessed purposes. Doubtless the friends at Sydney had their own way of looking at and explaining everything; and the best of friends must sometimes differ, even in the Mission field, and yet learn to respect each other and work so far as they can agree towards common ends in the service of the Divine Lord and Master. My commission was publicly intimated. Communication had also been made to the Church of New South Wales as to appointing me their second representative to the Pan-Presbyterian Council, in connection with my mission to Britain, but they replied that one would serve their purpose. And South Australia and Tasmania were both written to regarding the object of my visit to the home countries. But no note of dissent, no hint of disapproval from any quarter, was intimated to the Victorian Church, or in any sense, directly or indirectly, reached me till I heard of that so-called _veto_ in the Free Church Offices at Edinburgh.