C5-1 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



party opposed to the onion gave their consent 

 to nave the measure adopted without a vote, 

 provided they were allowed to enter their 

 dissents upon the record. The resolution, as 

 adopted, besides the provisions in relation to 

 the signature of the iree Church formulas by 

 ministers called from the other Churches, con- 

 tains a reservation that " the Free Church still 

 adheres to the great fundamental principles 

 regarding the headship of Christ over the 

 Church, and his headship over nations and 

 rulers officially and collectively, as well as in- 

 dividually." To guard against any possibility 

 of irregularity in the proceedings on this sub- 

 ject, the Assembly ordered the resolution to 

 be sent down to the presbyteries for approval, 

 after whifh it should become a standing act. 

 The only point of difference between the for- 

 mula of the Free Church and that of the United 

 Presbyterian Church concerns the relation of 

 civil magistrates to religion. The formula of 

 the Free Church recognizes the obligation of 

 the state to further the interests of the Lord 

 Jesus Christ, while that of the Free Church 

 holds that the state should have nothing to do 

 with the Church of Christ in the way of giv- 

 ing it state money or state support, and that 

 the present connections of Church and state 

 should be severed. The subject of disestab- 

 lishment came directly before the Assent lily, 

 when a resolution was adopted to the effect 

 that the. Scottish State Church is indefensible 

 on Scriptural grounds; that it is the duty of 

 the Free Church to assume an attitude of 

 watchfulness in respect to the ritualism and 

 rationalism recognized in the Church of Eng- 

 land ; that the maintenance of the established 

 Churches in the actual circumstances of the 

 country tends necessarily to embody the prin- 

 ciple of concurrent endorsement of truth and 

 error; but that, while it concerns the highest 

 interest of religion and of the country thnt 

 this state of things should come to an end, the 

 main duty of the Free Church lies in the line 

 of so using its influence that the public mind 

 may be prepared for dealing with the question 

 wisely and scripturally when it comes to be 

 finally decided. 



In connection with the home mission work 

 of the Church, the Assembly recommended to 

 tin- members thnt they support the new 

 :ie for raising 20,000 in Glasgow, and 

 'MI in Edinburgh, and other parts of the 

 country, for the mining population. The in- 

 crease of the home-miftxion fund for the year 

 had been 12,995. The income of the hnd 

 for the convention of the Jews wan 5,471. 

 A fund of $5.500 had been accumulated for 

 thu building of mission premises at Constanti- 

 nople. One thoii-and pounds were still wanted 

 for this purpose. It waa reported that the 

 Chnrrh hnd ruined, during the year ending in 

 March, the total sum of 452,789 Ji. 4d., mad.' 

 np a follow*: for the instentation fund. 

 186.804, 8*. M.; for the local building fund. 

 -'30, 19. Sd. ; for the congregational fund, 



147,715, 6.l d. ; for missions and education, 

 77,850; miscellaneous contribution.-, 18,- 

 108, 18. Sd. There are reported as i-miii. 

 with the Free Church of Scotland % J,til4 Sun- 

 day-schools, with 18,815 teachers, 151,848 

 scholars, showing a decrease of 76 schools, 210 

 teachers, and 5,099 scholars. 



X. I'.MTED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF Pn>i- 

 LAXI>. The number of eoi.gi-t -gallons on the 

 roll of the synod of this Church at the end if 

 1872 was 611 ; number of communicants. IM',- 

 810, showing an increase of 1.884 during the 

 year. The proportion of this increase was 

 nineteen times greater in England than in 

 Scotland. The total of contribution and in- 

 come from all sources was 380,988, or 5,777 

 more than had ever before been collected in 

 one year. Of this sum, ii;i,s'.i7 were con- 

 tributed for missionary and benevolent pur- 

 poses at home and abroad. The total contri- 

 butions during the year tor ministerial stipends 

 were 129,780, 18*. 8</., an average of i'lMl 

 Gl. 6d. for each minister. The foreign mis- 

 fields of this Church are in Jamaica, Trinidad, 

 Old Calabar, Kaffraria, India, China, and Spain. 

 There were connected with them at the time 

 of making the last report, in May, 1*7:1, forty- 

 three ordained European and fit teen ordained 

 native missionaries, eight European medical 

 missionaries, two native licentiates, eleven Eu- 

 ropean male and female teachers (and two 

 about to depart), and 220 native assistants and 

 teachers. The number of principal stat 

 was 64; of out-stations, 143; ofeoinmnnici.nts, 

 6,680; of candidates, 1,024; of week-day 

 schools, 157; of pupils in the same, 9,183. 

 The Mission Board had dining the year sent 

 2,853 to Continental Europe lor the help of 

 the evangelical churches and societies there. 

 The sum of 10,700 had been contributed for 

 starting a mission in Japan. The synod of 

 the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland 

 met in Edinburgh, May 12th. The Rev. Dr. 

 Joseph Brown, of Glasgow, was chosen mod- 

 erator. A petition in liivr of the resolution 

 otl'crcd in Parliament by Mr. Small lor the 

 disestablishment of the state Churches of Eng- 

 land and Scotland was, in accordance \\itli a 

 resolution unanimously passed by the suiod, 

 signed by the moderator in its name, and by 

 440 members of the synod. A "general and 

 provisional " approval was given by the vote 

 of a largo majority of the syn.nl to the sel 

 for a union between the I'.nglish Presbyterian 

 Church and the United Presbyterians in Eng- 

 land. A committee was also appointed to 

 consider on what principle a union could be 

 effected between the United Presbyterians ill 

 Ireland, the Irish General As-cinbly. and tin' 

 Eastern Reformed Presbyterian Synod. Ar- 

 rangements were made to convert the synod 

 into a (ietier/il Asemby. 'ay-schooi 



reports of this Church show the number of 

 teachers to be in. h7o ; of scholars, !<"' 



The United Prtfbytfrian Synod of Enyliinil 

 met on the 13th of October. A large majority 



