PRESBYTERIANS. 



687 



religious instruction that may be given in the 

 time set apart for it. In regard to the rela- 

 tions with the Established Church, a resolu- 

 tion was passed declaring 



That the abolition of patronage in the Scotch Es- 

 tablishment would not aft'ect the grounds of separa- 

 tion between it and the Free Church ; that the Free 

 Church had hitherto refrained from promoting any 

 public agitation directed against the Established 

 Church, but that the Assembly were satisfied that 

 questions bearing on the future relations between 

 Church and state in Scotland, if once raised, must 

 be determined, not according to the wishes of the 

 courts and people of the Established Church, but in 

 a manner conducive to the religious well-being of 

 the nation, and to the peace and harmony of the 

 Evangelical Churches. 



A committee was appointed to give atten- 

 tion to the proceedings which might be taken 

 in this matter. The contributions to the sus- 

 tentation fund were reported to have been 

 138,194 16*. 4d. The total income of the 

 Church, for the year, was 432,623, or nearly 

 twenty thousand pounds more than the in- 

 come of the previous year. 



XII. UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OP 

 SCOTLAND. The following are the numerical 

 statistics of this Church : 



Number of congregations 608 



Number of elders 4,804 



Members in full communion 181,426 



Average Sabbath attendance 205,305 



Number of Sunday-school teachers 10,574 



Number of Sunday-school scholars 81,481 



The Synod of the United Presbyterian Church 

 of Scotland met at Edinburgh on May 13th ; 

 the Committee on Union with other Presbyte- 

 rian Churches presented a report, recommend- 

 ing that the ministers of the Churches which 

 are parties with this Church to the negotia- 

 tions for union (the Free Church of Scotland, 

 the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and the 

 English Presbyterian Church) be regarded as 

 eligible to United Presbyterian pulpits upon 

 their signing the ordination formula provided 

 the privilege is made mutual. An overture 

 was received from the United Presbyterian 

 Synod in England asking that a proposition be 

 considered for the immediate union of the lat- 

 ter body with the English Presbyterian Church, 

 without waiting for the consummation of the 

 union movement in Scotland. The synod, in 

 reply, expressed its satisfaction at the increas- 

 ing desire for union. 



The synod adopted a declaration against 

 the provision of religious education in the 

 schools by the state, and gave its approval to 

 the principal object and main provisions of 

 the educational bill proposed by the Lord Ad- 

 vocate for Scotland. It also resolved to peti- 

 tion Parliament for the disestablishment and 

 disendowment of the Established Churches of 

 England and Scotland, and appointed a com- 

 mittee to promote this measure. The total 

 income of this Church for 1871 was 325,176, 

 or 22,034 more than the income of the pre- 

 vious year. The average stipend to each min- 

 ister was reported to be 210 Ss. Gd. This 

 Church supports seven foreign missions. They 



are in Jamaica, Trinidad, Old Calabar, Kaffra- 

 ria, and India. The missionary force consists 

 of 63 European and 118 native laborers. The 

 number of mission-stations is 53 ; of out-sta- 

 tions, 141 ; of communicants at the mission- 

 stations and out-stations, 6,296 ; of inquirers, 

 694; of week-day schools, 158; of pupils, 

 8,430. 



XIII. REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN 

 SCOTLAND. The Synod of the Reformed Pres- 

 byterians in Scotland met at Glasgow. Reso- 

 lutions were adopted in favor of carrying on 

 the further negotiations for the union with the 

 non-established Presbyterian Churches in the 

 way recommended by the joint union com- 

 mittee. The minimum stipend of ministers 

 had reached a higher point than it had ever 

 attained before viz., 125, and a manse, or 

 parsonage, and 145 without -a manse. The 

 amount raised within the Church during the 

 year for all purposes was 10,389, or 944 

 more than the amount raised during the pre- 

 vious year. 



The Synod of the Old Cameronians in Scot- 

 land numbers about 7,000 communicants. An 

 advance in contributions and a small increase 

 in membership were reported at its meeting. 

 It is claimed for this body that it does more 

 in foreign missionary work, in proportion to 

 its members, than any branch of the Presby- 

 terian Church. At its last meeting it took 

 action condemnatory of the censure which 

 was passed on Mr. George H. Stuart by the 

 Reformed Presbyterian Synod of the United 

 States in 1869. 



XIV. THE IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

 The General Assembly of the Irish. Presby- 

 terian Church met at Belfast in June. Reso- 

 lutions were adopted expressing the adherence 

 of the General Assembly to the principle of 

 united non-sectarian education, as opposed to 

 the denominational system, and declaring the 

 determination to maintain that principle in its 

 integrity by every means in the power of the 

 Assembly. Satisfactory reports were given 

 of the condition of the sustentation fund. In 

 all, 519 congregations had contributed to the 

 fund. The total amount subscribed was 24,- 

 665. The supplementary stipend from the 

 surplus sustentation fund, in addition to the 

 69 of commutation money, would be 16 to 

 each minister, instead of 10, as in the pre- 

 vious year. 



XV. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES IN ENGLAND. 

 The Synod of the English Presbyterian 

 Church met April 15th. The plan for the 

 formation of a sustentation fund, which had 

 been ordered to be prepared by the preceding 

 synod, having been approved by the pres- , 

 byteries, was adopted by a vote of 117 to 53. 

 The synod's union committee were instructed 

 to enter into immediate negotiations for union 

 between this body and the United Presby- 

 terians and Reformed Presbyterians of Eng- 

 land. The proposal of the joint union com- 

 mittee in Scotland, to recognize the mutual 



