PRESBYTERIANS. 



671 



during any previous year in the history of the 

 boar.l. Claims amounting to $82,824.91 had 

 paid during the year, leaving a balance 

 in tho treMMiry of $2,709.43. The Board of 

 Foreign Mi**ton of the United Presbyterian 

 ('hurch reported to the General Assembly that 

 tli -ir total receipts for tho year had been, in- 

 rliidini: tin- balance on hand at the beginning 

 of the year, $75,0(51.20, and their total expen- 

 ditures $71,950.00. There was an apparent 

 balance in the treasury of $3,111.14, but, 

 taking into account the amount tho board still 

 o\vel, and the obligations coining due, it was 

 estimated that there would be on the 1st of 

 July a deficiency of $18,981.86. The estimates 

 for the ensuing year called for $84,526, cur- 

 rency. This amount was approved by the 

 General Assambly. Missions were supported 

 in Syria, India, Egypt, and China, concerning 

 which the following statistics were given: 

 Number of foreign missionaries, 38 ; of native 

 laborers, 114, of whom 4 were ordained and 

 9 were licensed. Number of communicants: 

 in Syria, 84 ; in India, 153 ; in Egypt, 86 ; in 

 China, 21 ; total, 915, an increase of 142 ; 

 number of baptisms, 136. Number of pupils 

 in the schools: in Syria, 417; in India, 1,143; 

 in Egypt, 1,151 ; in China, 25 ; total 2,736. 

 11,890 volumes had been used in the mission 

 fields, chiefly in Egypt. 



The eighteenth General Assembly of the 

 United Presbyterian Church in North America 

 met in Philadelphia, May 24th. The Rev. Dr. 

 James Brown, of Keokuk, Iowa, was chosen 

 moderator. A resolution was adopted pro- 

 testing " most solemnly against the opening 

 of the Centennial grounds on the Lord's-day," 

 and pledging support to the Centennial Com- 

 mission in the resolution they had adopted to 

 close these grounds on that day. 



The subject of permitting the use of instru- 

 ments of music in the churches was brought 

 to the attention of the Assembly by a petition 

 for the repeal of the section of the Directory 

 of Worship which prohibits such instruments. 

 The committee to whom it was referred re- 

 ported an overture to be submitted to the pres- 

 byteries repealing the section. The overture 

 was lost, failing to receive the two-thirds vote 

 requisite to pass it, although it received the 

 vote of a majority of the members present 

 (86 to 74). The Committee on Conference with 

 the Associate Reformed Synod of the South 

 made a report recommending the cooperation 

 of the two bodies in all Church work. Their 

 action was approved. Tho presbyteries were 

 instructed to require all congregations under 

 their care to seek through them whatever 

 preaching they might desire; and ministers 

 and licentiates were forbidden to make any ar- 

 rangements with congregations for preaching 

 except through the presbyteries under whose 

 care the congregations may be. A plan to es- 

 tablish a theological seminary in India, to be 

 under the care of the Presbytery of Sealkote, 

 was heartily approved. 



(6.) The General Synod of the Reformed Pret- 

 byterian Church of North America met in Phil- 

 adelphia, May 18th. The Rev. John Alford, 

 of Newcastle, Del., was chosen moderator. 

 The report of the treasurer of the Board of 

 Foreign Missions showed that the expenditures 

 for the year had been $57, while the receipts 

 were $63, and that a balance remained in the 

 treasury of $1,453.55. The Board of Domes- 

 tic Missions reported that the amount of their 

 appropriations had been $1,950. A committee 

 was appointed to confer with a committee 

 of the Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian 

 Church in North America (O. S.j on the sub- 

 ject of a union of the two bodies. A report on 

 the " Signs of the Times " was adopted. It re- 

 viewed the state of the religious and secular 

 world, and designated the first Thursday in 

 November as a day of thanksgiving, and Thurs- 

 day of the first week in January as a day of 

 fasting and prayer, in the Church. 



(c.) The Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian 

 Church met in Pittsburg, Pa., May 24th. The 

 Rev. Joseph Beattie, missionary to Syria, was 

 chosen moderator. The synod was composed 

 of about one hundred and fifty members, rep- 

 resenting about one hundred ministers and 

 congregations. The whole amount of contri- 

 butions given by the churches during the year 

 was $190,000, or about nineteen dollars per 

 member. The number of theological students 

 was increasing. 



(d.) The Associate Synod of North America 

 met at Portland Mills, Ind., May 24th. The 

 Rev. H. S. Atchison was chosen moderator. 

 It appeared from the statistical tables that this 

 body embraced the four presbyteries of Iowa, 

 Clarion, Muskingum, and Northern Indiana, 

 and that it had 12 ministers, 2 licentiates, 34 

 congregational charges or stations, and 1,115 

 communicants. The total amount of contri- 

 butions to the various causes of the Church 

 during the year had been $679.85. 



(e.) The Associate Reformed Synod of the 

 South met at Kopewell, S. C., September 21st. 

 The Rev. William B. Pressly was chosen mod- 

 erator. The committee who were appointed 

 by the synod of the previous year to confer 

 with a similar committee of the United Presby- 

 terian Church, with a view to the cooperation 

 of the two Churches in certain departments of 

 their work, reported that the two committees 

 had met at Baltimore, December 15, 1875, and 

 agreed upon a plan of cooperation. This plan 

 provided that " the presbyteries of each Church 

 shall sustain the same relation to those of the 

 other that they do to the coordinate courts of 

 their own body, and that the ministers and 

 licentiates of each shall be eligible to appoint- 

 ments and settlements in congregations of the 

 other ; " that the courts of each shall respect 

 the discipline of the other; that ministers and 

 members of the two bodies be recommended 

 to cultivate friendly relations and Christian 

 fellowship with each other; that the existing 

 relations of the two Churches (actual coOpera- 



