PRESBYTERIANS. 



645 



eral approval of the object of this council, al- 

 though it was not actually represented in it. 

 A resolution was adopted, again approving the 

 object of the Alliance, and the constitution 

 which had been Adopted by the Conference in 

 London. The Rev. James Boyce, D. D.," was 

 appointed a delegate to represent the Synod 

 at the Conference to be held at Edinburgh, 

 Scotland, in 1876. 



Committees appointed by the General As- 

 sembly of the United Presbyterian Church 

 and by the Associate Reformed Synod of the 

 South for that purpose, met in Baltimore, De- 

 cember 15th, to confer with reference to co- 

 operation of the two bodies in such depart- 

 ments of their respective works as admitted 

 of it. The conference resulted in the adoption 

 of resolutions recommending a plan which 

 will be submitted in 1876 to the General As- 

 sembly of the United Presbyterian Church 

 and to the Associate Reformed Synod of the 

 South for adoption. 



V. REFOEMED PKESBYTEEIA^ CHTJKOHES. 

 The General Synod of the Reformed Presbyte- 

 rian Church in North America met at Coulter- 

 ville, Randolph County, 111., May 19th. The 

 Rev. A. R. Gailey, of the Chicago Presbytery, 

 was chosen moderator. The Committee on a 

 Federative Union of the Presbyterian and Re- 

 formed Churches submitted a report on the 

 joint meeting of the committees of the several 

 denominations, held in New York in April. 

 The General Synod disapproved of the course 

 pursued by the committee, and resolved to take 

 no further action on the subject at present. 

 The measures taken by the General Synod to 

 obtain possession of the property of a church 

 in Philadelphia which had suspended relations 

 with it were referred by the Supreme Court 

 of Pennsylvania in 1873 to S. C. Perkins, Esq., 

 Master in Chancery. He gave a decision in 

 January, 1875, adverse to the claims of the 

 General Synod, and embodying the following 

 points : 



1. That in Pennsylvania the law " requires an ex- 

 amination by the civil court of the ecclesiastical con- 

 stitution, rules, and regulations," of the party ap- 

 plying for relief. 



2. That, to obtain relief from the civil court, the 

 ecclesiastical court must be able to show that it has 

 acted up to its own laws and regulations. 



3. That the Eeformed Presbyterian Svnod, in this 

 case, has not acted in accordance with its own con- 

 stitution and laws, but in violation of them, and 

 therefore it denies the relief sought. 



The other branch of the Church, the " Synod 

 of the Reformed Presbyterian Church," met at 

 Coulterville, 111., May 26th. The Rev. James 

 Kennedy, of New York City, was chosen 

 moderator. The Rev. J. R. W. Sloane, D. D., 

 the Rev. J. L. McCartney, and Elder Walter 

 T. Miller, of New York, were appointed com- 

 missioners to the General Council of Presby- 

 terian Churches, which was called to meet in 

 London on the 21st of July. No specific in- 

 structions were issued to the commissioners, 

 but it was distinctly understood by all that the 



testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church 

 on the subject of Scriptural Psalmody, and 

 other distinctive points, should be carefully 

 guarded. 



VI. CUMBEELAND PEESBYTEEIAN CnUECH. 



The minutes of the General Assembly of the 

 Cumberland Presbyterian Church for 1875 

 give the names of 1,225 ministers, who are 

 distributed among the States as follows : Ten- 

 nessee, 266 ; Missouri, 174; Texas, 168; Illi- 

 nois, 129 ; Arkansas, 101 ; Kentucky, 98 ; Mis- 

 sissippi, 60 ; Alabama, 54 ; Indiana, 29 ; Cali- 

 fornia, 20; Iowa, 20; Kansas, 19; Pennsyl- 

 vania, 19; Oregon, 14; Ohio, 13; Georgia, 

 12 ; Washington Territory, 7 ; Choctaw Na- 

 tion, 6 ; Nebraska, 6 ; Colorado, 5 ; Louisiana, 

 3 ; Nevada, 1 ; New York, 1. The minutes 

 also give a list of 263 licentiates, and of 207 

 candidates for the ministry, making the total 

 number of ministers, licentiates, and candi- 

 dates, 1,695. 



The forty-fifth General Assembly of the Cum- 

 berland Presbyterian Church met at Jefferson, 

 Texas, May 20th. The Rev. W. S. Campbell, 

 D. D., of Illinois, was elected moderator. The 

 Assembly declared that the Sunday-schools of 

 the Church should be under the supervision 

 and control of the pastors and sessions of the 

 congregations, and urged the importance of 

 parental training of children in the doctrines 

 and usages of the Church, and of catechetical 

 instruction. The decisions of former General 

 Assemblies that " to use or in any way encour- 

 age the use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage 

 is an immorality, and merits the censure of the 

 Church," were reiterated. 



VII. PEESBYTEEIAN CHUECH or CANADA. 

 The following are summaries of the statistical 

 returns of the churches which have united in 

 the Presbyterian Church of Canada : Presby- 

 terian Church of Canada in connection with the 

 Church of Scotland : Ministers, 141 ; average 

 stipend, $842; congregations, 179; communi- 

 cants, 17,247; teachers in the Sunday-schools, 

 1,193 ; scholars in the same, 13,401. Canada 

 Presbyterian Church : Ministers, 338 ; average 

 stipend, $700 ; congregations, 650 ; communi- 

 cants, 50,702; teachers in the Sunday-schools, 

 4,097 ; scholars in the same, 43,536. Presby- 

 terian Church of the Lower Provinces : Minis- 

 ters, 124; average stipend, $947; congrega- 

 tions, 138; communicants, 18,082; teachers in 

 the Sunday-schools, 1,710; scholars in the 

 same, 13,401. Presbyterian Church of the 

 Maritime Provinces in connection with the 

 Church of /Scotland: Ministers, 31 ; average 

 stipend, $840 ; congregations, 41 ; elders, 228 ; 

 communicants, 4,622; teachers in the Sunday- 

 schools, 474; scholars in the same, 4,970. 

 Total: Ministers, 634; congregations, 1,119; 

 communicants, 90,653 ; teachers in the Sunday- 

 schools, 7,471 ; scholars in the same, 73,394. 



The General Assembly and the three Synods 

 met for the last time as separate organizations, 

 Tuesday morning, June 15th. After being 

 .constituted, each marched, with its moderator 



