PRESBYTERIANS. 



had been rejected. The effort was renewed 

 ut the present Assembly, and a special com- 

 mittee of one minister and one elder from 

 each Synod was appointed to take charge of 

 the subject. This committee reported a prop- 

 osition to change the ratio of representation 

 from one commissioner of each order for every 

 24 to one for every 48 members of the Presby- 

 tery. The effect of this measure would have 

 been to reduce the representation of the larger 

 presbyteries one half, while it would leave that 

 of the smaller presbyteries unchanged. This 

 proposition was rejected by a vote of 203 to 

 241. 



The following rules were adopted in refer- 

 ence to the formation of synods and presbyte- 

 ries in foreign missionary fields : 1. That in 

 regions occupied by the Presbyterian Board of 

 Foreign Missions only, presbyteries, and even- 

 tually synods, may be organized at discretion, 

 if not already organized, under whose care the 

 native churches in the missions shall be placed ; 

 that each presbytery shall consist of all the min- 

 isters, foreign and native, not less than five in 

 number, and a ruling elder from each church ; 

 and that the synods shall regularly send certi- 

 fied copies of their minutes and reports to the 

 General Assembly. 2. That in regions occu- 

 pied both by the Board and by the missions of 

 other Presbyterian denominations, missionary 

 churches, presbyteries, and synods should be 

 encouraged to enter into organic relations with 

 each other for joint work in the common field ; 

 but for purposes of representation, the foreign 

 and native ministers connected with the Board, 

 if sufficient in number, shall, with an elder 

 from each of the churches, be regarded as a 

 distinct Presbytery, entitled to appoint com- 

 missioners to the General Assembly. Provi- 

 sion having been made for the appointment of 

 delegates to attend the meeting of the Presby- 

 terian Alliance to be held in Philadelphia, the 

 Assembly decided that that proceeding would 

 furnish sufficient opportunities for intercourse 

 with other Presbyterian bodies, and that it 

 would not appoint special delegates to visit 

 their courts. Delegates were, however, ap- 

 pointed to the non-Presbyterian bodies with 

 which the Assembly holds correspondence. 

 The Assembly having been invited to rescind 

 or reaffirm the deliverance of the Assembly 

 of 1835, declaring that the Roman Catholic 

 Church "has essentially apostatized from the 

 religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 

 and therefore can not be recognized as a Chris- 

 tian church," and also to reverse the action of 

 the Assembly of 1875 touching the validity of 

 Roman Catholic baptism, the following minute 

 was adopted on the subject : 



Renewing with emphasis and in the terms of tho 

 Westminster Symbols their protest against the errors 

 of the Roman Catholic Church, the Assembly are, 

 notwithstanding, unwilling to reaffirm the deliver- 

 ance of the Assembly of 1835, which declares that 

 that body can not bo recognized as a branch of tho 

 Church of Christ ; and they distinctly disavow their 

 belief in the inferences respecting the invalidity of 



Roman Catholic baptisms which follow from that de- 

 liverance, and in support of which the said deliver- 

 ance has been cited. 



Furthermore, while it is true, as our standards 

 teach, that baptism is to be administered but once, 

 yet tnis is not to be so construed as to foster a super- 

 stition* HacramentarianUm, nor so as to sacrifice the 

 conscientious convictions of either the applicant for 

 baptism or the pastors and sessions to whom appli- 

 cation is made. Respecting the rebaptism of converts 

 from tho Roman Catholic Church this Assembly, there- 

 fore, reaffirm the deliverance of the Assembly of 1875. 



Resolutions were passed discountenancing 

 the attendance of church members at theatres 

 and operas, and the reading of secular newspa- 

 pers on Sunday. 



II. PRESBYTERIAN CmrEcn IN THE UNITED 

 STATES. The following is a summary of the 

 statistics of this Church for 1879, compared 

 with those for 1877 and 1878 : 



The General Assembly of the Presbyterian 

 Church in the United States met at Louisville, 

 Kentucky, May 15th. The Rev. Joseph R. Wil- 

 son, D. D., of Wilmington, North Carolina, was 

 chosen Moderator. The return of the votes of 

 the presbyteries upon a revised "Book of 

 Church Order " which had been submitted to 

 them for their approval, showed that the book 

 had been accepted by a large majority of them, 

 and it was therefore declared to have been 

 adopted. The question of the nature of tho 



