632 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



1,900 of infants. Amount of contributions: 

 From Sunday-schools, $11,213; for home mis- 

 sions, $7,608; for foreign missions, $3,929; 

 for education, $6,126; for publication, $1,762; 

 for church building and repairs, $75,831 ; for 

 pastors' salaries and supplies, $186,640 ; for 

 presbyterial purposes, $6,672 ; for charity, $4,- 

 529 ; miscellaneous contributions, $17,229 ; to- 

 tal contributions, $321,569, or $99,933 more 

 than were reported in 1879 ; value of church 

 property, $1,837,809. 



The General Assembly of the Cumberland 

 Presbyterian Church met at Evansville, Indi- 

 ana, May 20th. The Rev. A. Templeton, of 

 Texas, was chosen moderator. A celebration 

 of the semi-centennial anniversary of the or- 

 ganization of the Church took place during the 

 sessions of the Assembly, at which a sermon 

 was preached by J. L. Dillard, D. D., on the 

 distinctive doctrines of the denomination ; an 

 historical sketch of the Church was read by 

 R. Beard, D. D. ; biographical sketches from 

 memory of the fathers and early ministers of 

 the Church were presented by H. A. Hunter, 

 D. D.; and a sermon was preached on the field 

 and work of the Church by A. J. McGlumphy, 

 D. D. An overture was presented asking for 

 a change in the name of the denomination, 

 to which the Assembly replied that " such a 

 change is impracticable, not to say undesira- 

 ble." Delegates were appointed to represent 

 the Church in the meeting of the Presbyterian 

 Alliance to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 

 vania, in September, 1880. A majority of the 

 presbyteries having voted in favor of it, an 

 amendment to the form of government was 

 adopted under which every congregation will- 

 ing to support the gospel according to its 

 means is entitled to be represented in the Pres- 

 bytery by a ruling elder. The question was 

 asked of the Assembly whether a minister of 

 the Church could administer the ordinance of 

 baptism to a person who had been baptized in 

 infancy. The Assembly answered no ; for the 

 Confession of Faith declares that "the sacra- 

 ment of baptism is but once to be adminis- 

 tered to any person, there being no example 

 for the repetition of Christian baptism." A 

 case came up in which a presbytery had or- 

 dained a minister who had been unusually use- 

 ful and successful, but who, it was known, did 

 not reach the standard of education required 

 by the rules of the Church, without examining 

 him, taking the ground that it had a right to 

 grant a dispensation in a special and urgent 

 ,case. The Synod had decided that the action 

 of the Presbytery was irregular and unauthor- 

 ized, and an appeal was taken to the General 

 Assembly. The Assembly approved the action 

 of the Synod. A resolution was adopted, urg- 

 ing the faithful execution of all laws for the 

 restriction of the traffic in intoxicating liquors, 

 and favoring a demand for still more stringent 

 laws on the subject. A Sabbath committee 

 was appointed to cooperate with the Interna- 

 tional Sabbath Association of Philadelphia. 



V. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN CANADA. The 



sixth General Assembly of the Presbyterian 

 Church in Canada met in Montreal, June 9th. 

 The Rev. Donald McRae, of St. John, New 

 Brunswick, was chosen moderator. The " Nar- 

 rative of the State of Religion " spoke with satis- 

 faction of the general observance of Sunday by 

 the people of the Church, but condemned the 

 practice of Sunday visiting as tending to disturb 

 members of the Church at their homes, and the 

 Sunday railway service as tending to interrupt 

 the services of the churches. The Committee 

 on Sabbath Observance was directed to cooper- 

 ate with synodical, presbyterial, and all other 

 committees in all well-directed efforts to secure 

 the due observance of the Lord's-day. A com- 

 mittee was appointed to watch legislation that 

 might be attempted with respect to marriage 

 within the forbidden degrees. Gratification 

 was expressed at the progress of legislation for 

 repressing the sale of intoxicating liquors. A 

 law regarding the admission of ministers from 

 other churches, having been approved by the 

 Presbyteries, was finally enacted. Much atten- 

 tion was given to the consideration of the re- 

 ports of the colleges. Halifax College had a 

 library of nine thousand volumes, and had an 

 endowment fund of $100,000 subscribed, of 

 which one half had been collected. Morrin 

 College, Quebec, returned an annual revenue 

 of $3,872, with a fair attendance of occasional 

 students, but the work done by it could not be 

 said to be increasing. Montreal College had a 

 total of sixty-one graduates, and a revenue in 

 excess of its expenditures. Queen's College 

 had a year's revenue of $19,375, with one hun- 

 dred and fifteen students in art and theol- 

 ogy, of whom fifty-one were studying for the 

 ministry. The financial condition of Knox 

 College had improved, but it still needed 

 $30,000 to clear it of debt, and its income fell 

 below its expenditures. It had one hundred 

 students preparing for the ministry. Manitoba 

 College needed new buildings to meet the in- 

 creasing demand in the province for higher 

 education. Out of forty-seven Presbyterian 

 students who had gone up to the university, 

 sixteen were from this institution. All of the 

 congregations were invited to contribute to its 

 support. Reports were received from the La- 

 dies' Colleges at Brantford and Ottawa. 



VI. CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. The Committee 

 on Statistics of Christian Liberality reported 

 to the General Assembly that the sum of the 

 collections, contributions, and legacies to the 

 Church and its funds during 1879 was 330,- 

 252, or 52,000 less than the receipts from the 

 same sources in 1878. The Committee on 

 Sunday -Schools gave the number of schools at 

 1,961, with 185,796 scholars. The Colonit T 

 Committee had had available funds of 6,974 

 wherewith to defray an expenditure amount- 

 ing to 9,013. The income of the Home Mis- 

 sion Committee for the year had been 10,595, 

 and its expenditures 11,647. It had voted 

 funds to fifty-one mission stations, with an at- 



