084 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



PRISONERS, EXCHANGE OF. 



conducive to the success of the movement, were 

 recommended to the churches of both denomi- 

 nations. 



By way of ascertaining the views of the min- 

 isters, ruling elders, and churches, and of calling 

 out, organizing, and concentrating public senti- 

 ment, so as to open the way for organic union 

 as speedily as possible, they proposed the fol- 

 lowing measures : 



1. We recommend to Presbyteries and Synods the 

 appointment of corresponding delegates to attend 

 the Presbyteries and Synods of the other branch, as 

 a measure adapted to develop and promote the spirit 

 of union. 



2. We recommend union meetings of Presbyteries 

 and Synods of the two bodies wherever practicable 

 such as were held by the Presbyteries of St. Law- 

 rence and Ogdensburg, as furnishing the best means 

 of ascertaining how far a spirit of kindness and con- 

 fidence has been restored, and to what extent a desiro 

 for reunion prevails. 



3. We recommend that Church Sessions, Presby- 

 teries, and Synods, that are in favor of reunion, take 

 action on the subject, aud express and publish their 

 views. 



4. We recommend conventions of the friends of 

 reunion at important points, to be composed of min- 

 isters, ruling elders, and others, to consult together 

 and to declare their views. 



5. We respectfully request the conductors of the 

 religious journals of the two churches to open their 

 columns to the publication of communications and 

 reports of church courts and other meetings, in favor 

 of reunion. 



6. We would recommend to all 'concerned to dis- 

 courage the organization of weak churches of the two 

 branches where only one is needed and can be sup- 

 ported, and especially where missionary aid is re- 

 quired to sustain them, and we commend the union 

 of such churches where they exist. 



7. We recommend, in the language of the General 

 Assembly of 1863, at Peoria, "That the ministers of 

 the two branches of the Church cultivate fraternal 

 intercourse, the free interchange of views, and in all 

 suitable ways encourage and aid one another in the 

 appropriate work of the ministry ; and that the mem- 

 bers of the one or the other branch connect them- 

 selves with existing congregations of either, rather 

 than give their influence and their aid with bodies 

 whose principles and form of government are foreign 

 to their own. 



In accordance with this recommendation, 

 many synods of both bodies arranged to meet 

 next year simultaneously, and at the same place, 

 for the purpose of promoting, if not effecting, & 

 formal union. 



The principal business before the synods of the 

 two largest Presbyterian Churches of Scotland, 

 the Free Church and the United Presbyterians, 

 was the overture for a union of the two bodies. 



The committee appointed by the United Pres- 

 byterian Church, to confer with the committee 

 of the Free Church, presented a lengthy report 

 setting forth the matters in respect to which 

 the committees were agreed, and also the points 

 on which they differed, as regards "the rela- 

 tion of the civil magistrate to religion and the 

 Church." It was resolved unanimously that the 

 Synod express great satisfaction at the Christian 

 courtesy which had distinguished the confer- 

 ences, and its unabated sense of the importance 

 oi the object, and, without giving any opinion 

 on ihe articles in the report, reappoint the com- 



mittee to continue the conferer ces. The Mod- 

 erator expressed his confidence in the ultimate 

 result. 



At the meeting of the Free Church Assembly 

 at Edinburgh, Dr. Buchanan, convener of the 

 Committee on Union, laid on the table the re- 

 port of that committee. The report begun with 

 a statement of the distinctive principles on 

 which the committees of the Free and United 

 Presbyterian churches differ, and detailed the 

 proceedings of the Reformed, United Presby- 

 terian, and Original Secession Synods on the 

 questions. After reading the various communi- 

 cations from these bodies, Dr. Buchanan ex- 

 plained the purport and supported the object 

 of the report in a speech of some length. Dr. 

 Candlish moved the reappointment of the com- 

 mittee under the former instructions. Dr. Ju- 

 lius Wood made a counter motion, to the gen- 

 eral effect that hi view of the differences and 

 difficulties that beset the question of union, the 

 committee should be directed rather to seek to 

 promote harmonious cooperation among, than 

 to bring about union between the churches. 

 After several members of the Assembly had 

 spoken on both sides, the discussion was ad- 

 journed to the evening session. It was then 

 resumed by Professor Gibson, and continued 

 for four hours, when, in deference to the gen- 

 eral feeling of the house, Dr. "Wood withdrew 

 his motion, and that of Dr. Candlish was unani- 

 mously adopted. The chief obstacle to a con- 

 summation of the union of the two bodies is the 

 difference of their views respecting the relations 

 of the Church to the State. 



PRISONERS, EXCHANGE OF. The state- 

 ments of the number of prisoners exchanged 

 by each party in the war are quite conflicting, 

 and in the absence of the official documents of 

 either, which are withheld from publication, and 

 which, perhaps, would not agree in details, it is 

 difficult to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. 

 The report of the Commissary General of prison- 

 eis, which accompanied Secretary Stanton's re- 

 port at the close of 18G3, stated that 121,337 

 of the enemy as prisoners had been exchanged 

 against 110,866 Union prisoners ; and that 

 29,229 still remained in Federal prisons. On 

 the other hand the statistics kept by the clerk 

 of Libby prison, at Richmond, showed that from 

 the first of January, 1864, to Dec. 19th, 31,630 

 Federal prisoners had passed the doors of that 

 prison. This number is independent of twenty 

 thousand captured at Spottsylvauia and else- 

 where in Virginia, and sent directly South. 

 The statistics of the same prison make the num- 

 ber of those who have passed its doors and 

 departed as prisoners of war since the com- 

 mencement of hostilities at 225,000. 



Of the points in dispute between the authori- 

 ties on each side and which caused temporary 

 suspensions of the exchange, the most serious 

 related to the negro prisoners. The position 

 taken by the Government at Richmond was 

 that the Federal Government had the right to 

 enlist or draft, or procure in any other manner 



