ri:r.s!;YTKuiANs. 



691 



^tatos of America bo published with the 

 iiihiuu-M ni' thin (ioncral Assembly ; and, it iipin-urin,' 

 1'nnii Miiil r> p 'it that tlio ciiiuinittvo on tin; ; 

 tlif rn--livti:riun Church iH-itlu-raci-i-jiU-.I tin- propo- 

 sition in. i. In to it by our committeu UH a |>UMM ..r 

 organic union, nor proponed any otln-r in ]i. n there- 

 r the acceptance of our committee, thin General 

 Assembly, then-fore, without expressing any opinion 

 be plan of union proposed, doeniB it mexpedi- 

 presont to continue said conforeneo; und said 

 :s hereby discharged. 



Assent was given to tlie proposition for hold- 

 : ;il Council of Presbyterian Churches, 

 and a (.ommitteo of five members was appoint- 

 i-' I, to confer with similar committees from 

 other Presbyterian assemblies, in order to ar- 

 range for such a council. 



Jefferson, Texas, was designated as tho place 

 for holding the next meeting of the General 

 Assembly. 



The Rev. Mr. Johnson was received by 

 the General Assembly as a delegate from the 

 Colored Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 

 and jravo an account of the organization and 

 condition of that body. Under cover of the 

 action taken by the General Assembly of the 

 Cumberland Presbyterian Church of 1869, 

 colored ministers had been from time to time 

 set apart to the whole work of the ministry, to 

 labor among their own people. These minis- 

 ters had formed themselves into presbyteries 

 and synods, and on the 1st day of May, 1874, 

 commissioners from various presbyteries had 

 met in Nashville, Tenn., and formed a General 

 Assembly. The official title of this body is the 

 " General Assembly, colored, of the Cumberland 

 Presbyterian Church in the United States of 

 America." There were under the control of 

 this body seven presbyteries, viz., those of 

 Iluntsville, Elk Creek, Farmington, and Ili- 

 wassee, constituting the Synod of Tennessee; 

 and those of New Hopewell, New Middleton, 

 and Springfield, constituting the Synod of Ken- 

 tucky. 



This Colored Church was estimated to num- 

 ber in its communion 47 ordained ministers, 46 

 licentiates, 30 candidates, and 8,000 communi- 

 cants. The value of its church property was 

 about $5,000. In reference to the scheme for 

 a Federal Union of Presbyterian Churches, the 

 synod adopted a resolution "recognizing the 

 unity of the Church through her living head, 

 and the propriety of Christians cooperating in 

 every proper way for the extension of Christ's 

 kingdom," and appointed a committee to con- 

 fer with committees from other churches, "in 

 order to ascertain more fully what is proposed 

 in the communication from the General Assem- 

 bly of the Reunited Presbyterian Church, and 

 report to the next General Synod." 



V. PRESBYTERIAN CIICBCUES IN BRITISH 

 NORTEC AMERICA. The following table shows 

 the number of ministers and communicants in 

 the Presbyterian Churches of Canada and the 

 Eastern Provinces which have adopted the 

 basis of union of the Presbyterian Church of 

 British North America : 



The General Assembly of tho Canada Pres- 

 n Church met at Ottawa, June 2d. The 

 Thomas McPberson was chosen mod- 

 erator. A resolution was adopted approving 

 the proposition for holding a general council 

 of Presbyterians, and a committee was appoint- 

 ed to meet or correspond with the committees 

 from other Presbyterian denominations on the 

 subject. The attention of the Assembly was 

 given chiefly to the consideration of the ques- 

 tion of union with the Presbyterian Church in 

 Canada, in connection with the Church of 

 Scotland and the Presbyterian Churches of the 

 Lower and Maritime Provinces. Report was 

 made of the vote of the presbyteries, sessions, 

 and congregations, on the basis of union sent 

 down by the previous General Assembly, as 

 follows : 



Fourteen synods had approved simpliciter 

 of the basis ; five presbyteries had technically 

 disapproved (three absolutely, and two with 

 modifications). 



One hundred and forty-four sessions had ap- 

 proved the basis and resolutions; one had given 

 a qualified approval ; six had approved the basis 

 only ; and eighty-five had disapproved. 



One hundred and sixty-eight congregations 

 had approved simpliciter ; eight had approved 

 of the basis only ; eighty-eight had disapproved, 

 and one had given a qualified approval. 



After consideration of the reports and discus- 

 sion, the Assembly decided to propose a modi- 

 fication of the preamble of the basis of union, 

 and the removal of the fourth article of the 

 basis (which refers to the relations of the 

 United Church with other branches of the 

 Church of Christ) from its original position in 

 the basis to a place among the resolutions. 

 Some changes were also desired in the resolu- 

 tions. The Synod of the Presbyterian Church 

 in connection of the Church of Scotland, whicii 

 was in session at the same time in Ottawa, 

 was invited to meet with the General Assem- 

 bly and discuss the proposed modifications of 

 the basis and resolutions. An agreement was 

 reached. The modified plan was formally 

 adopted by the General Assembly, and was 

 ordered to be sent down to the presbyterii-s 

 in terms of the barrier act, and also to the 

 sessions and congregations, with instructions 

 to report them to an adjourned meeting of the 

 General Assembly, to be held in Toronto on 

 the first Tuesday in November. 



At the adjourned session returns were re- 

 ceived and compared from nineteen presby- 



