556 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



sale of property $8,000, while the assets had been 

 increased by about $2,300. 



The Committee on Systematic Benevolence re- 

 ported that interest was growing. 



The report of the Educational Society repre- 

 sented that about 200 of the 505 probationers in 

 the Church had been in school during a part or all 

 of the time, while about 135 had been assisted by 

 loan or gift through the society or by particular 

 congregations and individuals. A home course of 

 study recommended by the Assembly six years 

 before for probationers who could not go to school 

 had been generally adopted and had become a 

 means of elevating the standard for ordination. 

 The total disbursements had been $11,140. The 

 permanent fund amounted to $8,000. Accounts 

 were given of the condition of four colleges and 

 universities, the Theological Seminary at Lebanon, 

 Tenn., and six other institutions. Colored schools 

 at Huntsville, Ala., and Newbern, Tenn., had been 

 aided. 



Reports were made to the Woman's Board of 

 Missions of synodal and presbyterial work, the 

 mountain mission and school at Hopewell, N. C., 

 the Colegio Morelos, at Aguas Calientes, Mexico, 

 and mission work among the Chinese at San Fran- 

 cisco and Merced, Cal. 



The Board of Missions reported estimates for 

 the ensuing year of $11,000 for home and $17,000 

 for foreign missions, involving the need of an 

 increase of $6,000 in the receipts. Accounts were 

 given of the foreign mission work in China, Japan, 

 and Mexico, and of home mission work at sixteen 

 stations. A Chinese missionary was laboring 

 among the Chinese in the Pacific Synod. Thirteen 

 church extension workers were employed by 

 synods. The receipts for church erection had 

 been $2,849. The sum of $5,401 had been returned 

 from loans during the year, while $2,575 had been 

 loaned to churches. The total missionary re- 

 ceipts for the year had been $85,550, of which 

 $19,779 had come through the Woman's Board. 



The seventy-first General Assembly met at 

 West Point, Miss., May 16. The Rev. E, E. Morris 

 was chosen moderator. Miss Vianna Woosley ap- 

 pearing as a commissioner from Leitchfield, for- 

 merly Nolin, Presbytery, the right of a woman to 

 a seat in the General Assembly was again brought 

 into question. The Assembly decided : " Whereas, 

 Some presbyteries have several times in the past 

 sent women as ruling elders to represent them 

 in the Assembly ; And whereas, This question has 

 tended to disturb the peace of the Church, which 

 peace we have pledged to study; And whereas, 

 The General Assembly has declared, and does de- 

 clare, such elders unconstitutional representatives ; 

 Resolved, That the presbyteries be instructed not 

 to send women to represent them in the future; 

 Resolved, That this shall not unseat nor lead to the 

 unseating or expelling of any commissioner of 

 this present Assembly." A protest was entered 

 against this action, based on the ground that the 

 Assembly had declared it unconstitutional for 

 presbyteries to send women elders as commission- 

 ers, and at the same time had conceded Miss 

 Woosley's right to a seat, thus making a con- 

 flict deliverance. A proposed constitutional 

 amendment providing for rotation in the office of 

 ruling elder and deacon, having been approved by 

 the presbyteries, was ratified. A ruling of the pre- 

 vious General Assembly practically demitting 

 ministers who have remained out of presbyterial 

 membership more than three years was revoked. 

 A report on divorce was adopted, declaring that 

 according to the Confession of Faith the marriage 

 relation should not be interrupted except upon 

 Scriptural grounds, and that according to Scrip- 



tural example and injunction conjugal infidelity 

 is the only cause for the granting of divorce. The 

 report on the theological seminaries embodied a 

 historical citing from the records of all the trans- 

 actions in relation to the seminary from the be- 

 ginning, the whole tending to show and leading 

 to the conclusion that " the General Assembly 

 in founding the Theological Seminary designed 

 to control the same." In the light of this state- 

 ment, the Assembly affirmed that the seminary 

 was its property and under its control, and de- 

 cided that due provision be made for its manage- 

 ment, so as to make it, as it was designed to be, 

 the seminary for the Avhole Church; that the 

 Board of Trustees should be composed of members 

 of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church; that the 

 principle of rotation as applied to the other boards 

 should prevail in the terms of service of the 

 trustees; that all funds for the seminary should 

 be received and held by the trustees for the As- 

 sembly; and that the wording of charters and 

 other documents relating to the seminary should 

 be made to conform to the claim of the Assembly 

 to its control. The Committee on Centennial. En- 

 dowment reported that $203,000 had been secured 

 for the endowment of Cumberland, Trinity, and 

 Lincoln Universities, in addition to which a new 

 university, called, after its benefactor, James Mil- 

 liken University, had been founded. 



The General Assembly of the Colored Cumber- 

 land Presbyterian Church met at Pratt City, Ala., 

 in May. The Rev. E. J. Simpson was chosen 

 moderator. The reports of the several committees 

 testified to a growing interest among the mem- 

 bership of the Church in the causes of missions, 

 education, and church extension. 



VI. Presbyterian Church in Canada. The 

 statistical reports of this Church, made to the 

 General Assembly in June, showed that almost 

 10,000 members had been added during the year 

 on profession of faith, and that 71 churches and 

 27 manses had been erected. The total contribu- 

 tions of the Church for all purposes were $2,601,- 

 451, of which sum $347,754 were given to the 

 educational, missionary, and benevolent work. 

 Counting interest on receipts from investments 

 and the contributions for the Century fund, the 

 whole amount of receipts would considerably ex- 

 ceed $500,000. 



The twenty- seventh General Assembly met in 

 Ottawa June 12. The Rev. Dr. Robert H. Warden 

 was chosen moderator. The Committee of the 

 Century Fund reported that the $1,000,000 aimed 

 at had been secured, and such a sum in addition 

 that it was proposed to make the contribution one 

 of $1,500,000. A check for $10,000 had been sent 

 by Lord Strathcona, and a contribution of $20,000 

 was expected to be given by Sir Donald Smith to 

 the Aged and Infirm Ministers' fund as soon as 

 certain conditions were complied with. A plan 

 was presented embodying the details for the man- 

 agement of the several departments of the fund. 

 Measures were further recommended and approved 

 by thfe Assembly for marking the opening of the 

 century by a direct advance movement in s'piritual 

 life and religious activity. The condition of 

 the Aged and Infirm Ministers' and the Widows' 

 and Orphans' funds was made the subject of 

 special conferences of the elders members of the 

 Assembly, whose recommendations, adopted by 

 the Assembly, included the giving of greater 

 prominence to the two funds before the Church, 

 and the introduction of business principles into 

 their administration. The home missions were 

 represented as in a state of rapid growth, extend- 

 ing through all the Northwestern States and Ter- 

 ritories and calling for constant accessions of 



