706 



REFORMED CHURCH. 



popular of them were his "Undine," "The 

 Lost Pleiad," "Longfellow's Children," and 

 "The Star of Bethlehem." His vigorous por- 

 trait of "Sheridan and his Horse" attained 

 almost equal celebrity with his singularly pop- 

 ular poem " Sheridan's Bide." Mr. Read had 

 been spending the last few years ID Italy, and 

 was returning home for the benefit of his 

 health, when he was attacked with pleuro- 

 pneumonia upon his voyage, and survived but 

 a few days after his arrival in New York. 



REFORMED C H U R C H. I. REFORMED 

 CHUECH IN AMERICA. The following are the 

 statistics of this Church : 



The number of families recorded as in con- 

 nection with the church is 41,335; the num- 

 ber of baptisms during the year was 4,296; 

 the number of Sunday-school scholars was 

 49,758. The amount of contributions for re- 

 ligious and benevolent purposes was $357,- 

 216.86; for congregational purposes, $1,066,- 

 492.45. 



The General Synod of the Reformed Church 

 in America met in Brooklyn, K Y., June 5th. 

 The Rev. J. T. Elmendorf, D. D., of Albany, 

 was elected President. The most prominent 

 topic of discussion concerned the Theological 

 Seminary at New Brunswick, N. J. The com- 

 mittee having the matter in charge reported 

 that the Rev. Dr. Shedd, who at a special 

 meeting of the General Synod, held in the fall 

 of 1871, had been elected Professor of Didactic 

 and Polemic Theology in that institution, had 

 declined to serve. The committee also called 

 attention to the gradual diminution which was 

 taking place in the number of students attend- 



ing the seminary. They recommended the 

 enlargement and improvement of the course 

 of instruction, and an increase of the force of 

 professors, to the end that the seminary might 

 offer every reasonable attraction to the stu- 

 dents of the Church " to prefer its own insti- 

 tutions to all others." In making these rec- 

 ommendations, the committee used language 

 which was regarded by some members of the 

 synod as reflecting unfavorably upon the pres- 

 ent professors. A long debate took place, after 

 which the language of the report was amend- 

 ed so as to do away with the .objectionable 

 expressions, and its recommendations were 

 adopted. The Rev. A. B. Van Zandt, D. D., 

 was elected to the vacant professorship. Del- 

 egates were received from the Eastern Synod 

 and the Synod of Ohio of the Reformed Church 

 in the United States. The address of the rep- 

 resentative of the Eastern Synod was very cor- 

 dial. The Rev. Dr. Yan Zandt had attended 

 the General Assembly of the Southern Presby- 

 terian Church as a corresponding delegate. He 

 reported that he had been received with great 

 cordiality, and that his suggestions toward 

 bringing the two churches into closer rela- 

 tions with each other had met with marked 

 favor. The committee on correspondence with 

 the Classis of North Carolina reported that a 

 warm desire had been expressed by that body 

 for union with the General Synod, but that 

 no steps had been taken in the matter, because 

 it was found that the Classis belonged to the 

 Reformed Church in the United States. The 

 committee on the revision of the consitution 

 reported that they had completed their work. 

 The committee on the revision of the liturgy 

 reported progress. The treasurer of the Cen- 

 tennial Fund presented the following schedule 

 of contributions received up to the time of the 

 meeting of the General Synod : 



For the Building Fund $16.363 59 



Board of Foreign Missions 23,557 78 



" Domestic Missions 12.346 24 



" Education 6.730 45 



" Publication 3,75536 



" Sustentation 63135 



Special gifts, including contributions for Hol- 

 land sufferers 76,981 48 



Home objects Church debt paid, new build- 

 ings and repairs 543,103 19 



General Centennial purposes 781 77 



Total $684,25121 



The time for taking contributions to this 

 fund was extended to January 1, 1873. The 

 receipts of the widows 1 fund, for 1872, were 

 $1,815.58. The total amount of this fund was 

 $34,515.90. The fund for the endowment of 

 Hope College amounted to $22,300.89. The 

 whole amount of the disabled ministers' fund 

 for the year was $3,869.82; of this amount 

 $1,800 had been paid on appropriations, leaving 

 a balance of $2,069.82. The increase in the 

 benevolent contributions over those of the 

 previous year was $31,182.86; the increase in 

 contributions for congregational purposes wns 

 $108,875.62. The receipts of the Board of 

 Publication were, from collections, $10,133.05; 



