634 



PKESBYTEPJANS. 



"Was educated at Besancon, taught mathematics 

 at the college of Tonnerre, entered the Normal 

 School in 1811, of which he became tutor and 

 then lecturer, afterward professor of physical 

 science at the Lyce"e Bourbon ; in 1818 he 

 supplied the place of Biot, in a course of natu- 

 ral philosophy, and at the same time was 

 made examiner of candidates for admission to 

 the Ecole Polytechnique. In 1827 he was 

 employed to teach the Due de Ohartres, and 

 afterward the other sons of Louis Philippe, in 

 his especial branch. In 1829 he became pro- 

 fessor and sub-director at the " Conservatoire 

 des Arts et Metiers ; " two years afterward he 

 succeeded Dulong at the Ecole Polytechnique. 

 In 183.7 he became a member of the Academy 

 of Sciences. After the coup d'etat in 1851, 

 Pouilat refused to take oath to the new gov- 

 ernment, was dismissed from Sorbonne and all 

 his official positions, and confined himself ex- 

 clusively to his academic duties and the pub- 

 lishing of his works. Pouilat has contributed 

 much in the different departments of physic, 

 on the phenomena of diffraction, latent heat, 

 solar heat, on the radiating and absorbing 

 power of the atmosphere, on the height of 

 clouds, and laws of electricity. He has left a 

 work of great value, "Elements de Physique 

 Exp6rimentale et de Me~te"orologie." 



PKESBYTERIANS. I. OLD SCHOOL PEES- 

 BTTEEIANS. The statistics of this Church, as 

 reported in the General Assembly, in May, 

 1868, were, as shown in the following table: 



Synods, 26; presbyteries, 147; licentiates, 

 223 ; candidates for the ministry, 326 ; churches 

 organized, 102 ; baptisms, 5,191 adults, 11,212 

 infants; persons in Sunday-schools, 221,340. 

 The contributions for Church purposes amount- 

 ed to $4,289,595. The freedmen's committee 

 on May 1, 1868, supported 130 missionaries, 

 and 38 schools. The Board of Missions sup- 

 ports missionaries among the Chippewa, Ot- 

 tawa, Omaha, Creek, and Seminole Indians ; in 



the United States of Colombia, Brazil, Liberia, 

 Corisco, India, Siam, China, Japan. The total 

 statistics of the Missionary Society were, 79 

 American missionaries and 22 natives of the 

 countries in which it operates; 85 American 

 and 179 native teachers; 1,616 communicants 

 in the mission churches, and 6,851 scholars in 

 the boarding and day schools. 



The Old School General Assembly met at 

 Albany, K Y., on the 21st of May. The chief 

 topic of discussion was the basis of reunion of 

 the Old School and New School Presbyterian 

 Churches, which had been presented by the 

 joint committee of the two Assemblies. The 

 basis was adopted by a vote of 186 to 79 on 

 the first article. It contains, besides the pre- 

 amble, the following points : 



1. The reunion shall be effected on the doctrinal 

 and ecclesiastical basis of our common standards ; the 

 Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be 

 acknowledged to be the inspired Word of God, and 

 the only infallible rule of faith, and practice ; the Con- 

 fession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received 

 and adopted, "as containing the system of doctrine 

 taught in the Holy Scriptures" [it being under- 

 stood that this Confession is received in its proper, 

 historical that is, the Calvmistic or Reformed 

 sense ; it is also understood that various methods of 

 viewing, stating, explaining, and illustrating the doc- 

 trines of the Confession, which do not impair the in- 

 tegrity of the Reformed or Calvmistic system, are to 

 be freely allowed in the United Church, as they have 

 hitherto been allowed in the separate Churches] ; and 

 the government and discipline of the Presbyterian 

 Church in the United States shall be approved as 

 containing the principles and rule of our polity. 



2. All the ministers and churches embraced in the 

 two bodies shall be admitted to the same standing, 

 in the united body, which they may hold in their re- 

 spective connections up to the consummation of the 

 union ; imperfectly organized churches shall be coun- 

 selled and expected to become thoroughly Presby- 

 terian, as early, within the period of five years, as is 

 permitted by the highest interests to be consulted ; 

 and no other such churches shall be hereafter re- 

 ceived. 



3. The boundaries of the several Presbyteries and 

 Synods shall be adjusted by the General Assembly 

 of the United Church. 



4. The official records of the two branches of the 

 Church, for the period of separation, shall be pre- 

 served and held as making up the one history of the 

 Church; and no rule or precedent, which does not 

 stand approved by both the bodies, shall be of any 

 authority until reestablished in the united body, ex- 

 cept in so far as such rule or precedent may affect the 

 rights of property founded thereon. 



5. The corporate rights now held by the two Gen- 

 eral Assemblies, and By their Boards and Committees, 

 shall, as far as practicable, be consolidated, and ap- 

 plied for their several objects, as defined by law. 



6. There shall be one set of Committees or Boards 

 for Home and Foreign Missions, and the other relig- 

 ious enterprises of the Church, which the churches 

 shall be encouraged to sustain, though free to cast 

 their contributions into other channels, if they desire 

 to do so. 



7. As soon as practicable after the union shall be 

 effected, the General Assembly shall reconstruct and 

 consolidate the several permanent Committees and 

 Boards, which now belong to the two Assemblies, in 

 such a manner as to represent, as far as possible, with 

 impartiality, the views and wishes of the two bodies 

 constituting the United Church. 



8. The publications of the Board of Publication, 

 and of the Publication Committee, shall continue to be 



