744 



REFORMED CHURCHES. 



NEW YORK BAILBOADS. 



Dividing the above figures by the length of the roads, the following results are obtained 



REFORMED CHURCHES. The German 

 Reformed Church of the United States report- 

 ed for the year 1865 the following statistics : 

 General synod, 1 ; synods, 2 ; classes, 27 ; min- 

 isters, 460; congregations, 1,134; members, 

 107,394; unconfirmed members, 73,576; bap- 

 tisms, 10,829; confirmations, 4,903; received 

 on certificate, 1,612; communed, 89,115; ex- 

 communicated, 160; dismissed, 674; deaths, 

 4,675; Sabbath-schools, 852; Sabbath-school 

 scholars (one synod only reported), 20,551 ; 

 benevolent contributions, $97,041.30. This, as 

 compared with the report of the previous year, 

 shows an increase of 1 classis, 13 ministers, 35 

 congregations, 8,619 members, 7,275 uncon- 

 firmed members, 1,744 communed, and $77,- 

 512.46 contributions for benevolent objects. 

 The Church has two " classes " in the late Con- 

 federate States, those of Virginia and North 

 Carolina. The great majority of both ministers 

 and people, in these classes, have expressed a 

 desire to remain in .connection with the synods 

 in the Northern States. 



The fifty-ninth annual meeting of the General 

 'Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church of the 

 United States, was opened on June 7th at New 

 Brunswick, N. J. The Synod passed the fol- 

 lowing resolutions on the state of the country : 



Resolved, That we recognize, in the situation in 

 which the war has left the Southern States, a loud 

 and imperative call to philanthropic and Christian 

 effort ; and pledge ourselves to use our utmost exer- 

 tions for the harmonizing and evangelizing of the 

 population, the amelioration of the condition of the 

 freedmen, and the restoring of the waste places in 

 Zion by our domestic missionary operations. 



Resolved, That while we have no sympathy with 

 that false spirit of charity, born of Universalism and 

 Humanitarianism, that would arrest the vindication 

 of justice and the punishment of guilt, we counsel 

 the largest possible exercise of clemency toward the 



deluded and the repentant, forgiving their trespasses 

 as Christ has forgiven us. 



Resolved, That in the sudden and violent death of 

 our tried and trusted President, Abraham Lincoln, 

 we recognize, with a submission of faith, a mystery 

 which says, " Be still, and know that I am God ; " a 

 chastisement which shows that even four years of 

 civil war have not sufficiently humbled and purified 

 us as a nation ; and a call to all of us to be ready at 

 pur posts of duty for the Master's summons, whether 

 it come in the middle watch of the night or at the 

 cock-crowing. "We bless God for the incalculable 

 service that our late beloved President rendered to 

 the cause of the Union and liberty, and for the testi- 

 mony for Christianity which he left behind him ; and 

 over his new-made grave we consecrate ourselves 

 afresh to the country and the cause for which he 

 lived and died, and to the Saviour whom he honored. 



The Church had, in 1865, 32 classes, 427 

 churches, 436 ministers, 54,286 communicants. 



The Committee on Domestic Missions pre- 

 sented a favorable report. They had aided 75 

 churches and mission stations, of which 22 are 

 in the West. These contain 4,239 members, of 

 which 501 were received during the last year. 

 Connected with these were 88 Sabbath-schools, 

 with 5,390 pupils. Receipts from all sources 

 during the year amounted to $24,315.83, leav- 

 ing a balance in the treasury of nearly $5,000. 

 The church-building fund amounts to $8,630. 

 The Synod resolved to make a special effort 

 to raise $50,000 for the church-building fund. 

 On motion of the Committee of Correspond- 

 ence, it was resolved to appoint delegates for a 

 National Protestant Convention to meet dele- 

 gates appointed from the Presbyterian General 

 Assemblies and the Congregational National 

 Convention. 



In the Reformed State Church of France, the 

 contest between the "Evangelical" ("Ortho- 

 dox," "Conservative") and "Liberal" ("Ra- 

 tionalistic," "Unitarian") schools continued 



