646 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



at its head, to the Victoria Hall, where the 

 joint meeting was held. The four moderators 

 occupied seats together upon the platform. 

 After devotional exercises, the minutes of the 

 last meetings of the several synods were read 

 by their respective clerks. The Eev. William 

 Reid, joint Clerk of the Canada Presbyterian 

 Church, the oldest of the clerks in point of 

 ordination, read the preamble and basis of 

 union with the accompanying resolutions. The 

 preamble and basis are as follows : 



The Presbyterian Church of Canada in connection 

 with the Church of Scotland, the Canada Presby- 

 terian Church, the Church of the Maritime Provinces 

 in connection with the Church of Scotland, and the 

 Presbyterian Church of the Lower Provinces ? hold- 

 ing the same doctrine, government, and discipline; 

 believing that it would be for the glory of God and 

 the advancement of the cause of Christ that thev 

 should unite and thus form one Presbyterian Church 

 in the Dominion, independent of all other churches 

 in its jurisdiction, and under authority to Christ 

 alone, the Head of his Church and Head over all 

 things to the Church, agree to unite on the following 

 basis to be subscribed^ by the moderators of the 

 respective churches, in their name and on their 

 behalf: 



1. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, 

 being the word of God, are the only infallible rule 

 of faith and morals. 



2. The Westminster Confession of Faith shall form 

 the subordinate standard of the Church ; the Larger 

 and Shorter Catechisms shall be adopted by the 

 Church and appointed to be used for the instruction 

 of the people; it being distinctly understood that 

 nothing contained in the aforesaid Confession and 

 Catechisms regarding the power and duty of the 

 civil magistrate shall be held to sanction any views 

 or principles inconsistent with full liberty of con- 

 science in matters of religion. 



3. The government and worship of this Church 

 shall be in accordance with the recognized princi- 

 ples and practice of Presbyterian Churches as laid 

 down generally in "The Form of Presbyterian 

 Church Government," and in " The Directory for 

 the Public Worship of God." 



The resolutions accompanying the articles 

 provide more definitely for the adjustment of 

 various interests of the uniting churches and 

 other details which it seemed necessary to ar- 

 range in advance of union. Each of the four 

 moderators then signed the engrossed copy of 

 the preamble, basis, and resolutions, the mem- 

 bers of each Synod rising to their feet during 

 the act in attestation of their approval. In 

 affixing his signature, each moderator made 

 the following declaration: "In the name and 

 by the appointment of " (here follows the 

 name of the Church), " I affix my signature to 

 the above articles and resolutions now read." 

 The Rev. P. G. McGregor, of the Synod of 

 the Lower Provinces, the oldest of the moder- 

 ators in point of ordination, then declared the 

 Union consummated in the following terms : 



The moderators of the Presbyterian Church in 

 Canada, in connection with the Church of Scotland, 

 of the Canada Presbyterian Church, of the Presby- 

 terian Church of the Lower Provinces, and of the 

 Presbyterian Church of the Maritime Provinces, 

 having signed the terms of union in the name of 

 their respective churches, I declare these churches 

 do form one Church, to be known and designated as 

 the Presbyterian Church of Canada. 



The Rev. John Cook, D. D., Principal of 

 Morrin College, Quebec, was chosen Moderator 

 of the Assembly of the united Church. The 

 Assembly the next day addressed itself to the 

 business of adjusting the organization of the 

 Church. Five synods were constituted, to be 

 known as the Synods of the Maritime Provinces, 

 of Montreal and Ottawa, of Toronto, of Hamil- 

 ton and London, and of Manitoba. It was ar- 

 gued that the next General Assembly should 

 consist of all the ministers and elders of the 

 Church. A committee was appointed to pre- 

 pare a draft act for the future organization of 

 the General Assembly, to be presented for the 

 consideration of the presbyteries. A standing 

 committee was elected, to be charged with the 

 consideration of ecclesiastical procedure, par- 

 liamentary legislation, synodical functions, 

 financial, missionary, and other schemes, to 

 meet in Montreal, on the ensuing 1st of Sep- 

 tember, and to report to the next General As- 

 sembly. 



VIII. CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. The General 

 Assembly of the Established Church of Scot- 

 land met at Edinburgh, May 20th. The Rev. 

 Dr. James Sellar was chosen moderator. The 

 Committee on Christian Life and Work re- 

 ported that returns had been received from 

 711 parishes, which showed that, out of a pop- 

 ulation of 1,386,077, 681,635 belonged to the 

 Established Church ; and that 1.121 parishes 

 and chapels had voluntarily contributed 272,- 

 588 during the year, or 41,706 more than had 

 been reported the year before by 1,171 parishes. 



IX. FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. The Gen- 

 eral Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland 

 met at Edinburgh, May 20th. The Rev. Dr. 

 Alexander Stuart, of Edinburgh, convener of 

 the Jewish Mission, was chosen moderator. 

 The financial report showed the income of the 

 several funds of the Church from March 81, 

 1874, to March 31, 1875, to have been: of the 

 sustentation fund, 163,168 ; of the local 

 building fund, 61,631; of the congregational 

 fund, 158,906 ; of the fund for missions and 

 education, 93,857; miscellaneous, 47,862: 

 total, 525,424. The exhibit showed a total 

 increase for the year of 14,340. The report 

 of the colleges stated that during the last ses- 

 sion 116 students had attended in Edinburgh, 

 56 in Glasgow, and 22 in Aberdeen. Report 

 was made that the Reformed Presbyterian 

 Church was prepared to accept the formula of 

 the Free Church, with reference to union. A 

 committee was appointed to prepare an over- 

 ture on the subject,- to be submitted to the 

 presbyteries. 



X. REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF 

 SCOTLAND. The Synod of the Reformed Pres- 

 byterian Church of Scotland met at Glasgow, 

 early in May. The number of members of the 

 Church was reported to be 57,335 ; and the 

 contributions for the year, for all purposes, 

 had been 13,724. The previous Synod had 

 taken steps toward negotiation for union with 

 the Free Church of Scotland. It was now de- 



