PRESBYTERIANS. 



735 



traction of elders as to their duties. Pres- 

 byteries wore directed to adopt some plan by 

 which contributions to all the boards may be se- 

 cured at least once a quarter; and the Assem- 

 bly expressed its judgment that " there should 

 be a careful avoidance of all indirect and ques- 

 tionable means of raising money for the Lord's 

 cause." The report of the Committee on Sta- 

 tistics recommended a careful oversight of all 

 members personally by the sessions, and the 

 erasure of the names, after they have been ad- 

 monished, of all who continue out of the com- 

 munion for one year without giving a satisfac- 

 tory reason for their neglect, and of all who 

 leave their congregation without applying for 

 the usual testimonials and remain away for two 

 years without reporting themselves. 



IV. CUMBERLAND PBKSBYTKHIAN CHURCH. 

 The following is a summary of the statistics of 

 this Church for the year ending April 30, 1879 : 

 Number of presbyteries, 112 ; of ministers, 

 1,835; of licentiates, 256; of candidates, 180; 

 of congregations, 2,351; of elders, 8,060; of 

 deacons, 2,335 ; of baptisms during the year, 

 4,431; of communicants, 104,994; of officers and 

 teachers in Sunday-schools, 5,988; of scholars 

 in the same, 51,690. 



The General Assembly of the Cumberland 

 Presbyterian Church met at Memphis, Tennes- 

 see, May 15th. The Rev. J. S. Grider of Ken- 

 tucky was chosen Moderator. The report of 

 the Board of Missions showed that its receipts 

 for the year had been $20,674, and its disburse- 

 ments $20,211. In accordance with the in- 

 structions of the previous General Assembly, a 

 new charter, of a more liberal character than 

 the former one, had been procured. A more 

 systematic and energetic effort than ever before 

 had been made to raise money through the pas- 

 tors, and had been attended with a large de- 

 gree of success. The only foreign mission of 

 the Church was at Ozaka, Japan, to which two 

 additional missionaries had been sent, and in 

 connection with which attention was called to 

 the value of women as helpers. The educa- 

 tional reports showed that the literary and the- 

 ological institutions were in successful opera- 

 tion, but needed larger endowments and better 

 apparatus and libraries. The most important 

 institutions are WaynesburgCollege, Pennsylva- 

 nia ; Lincoln University, Illinois ; Trinity Uni- 

 versity, Texas ; and Cumberland University, 

 Tennessee. The last has a full theological fac- 

 ulty, and theological departments are estab- 

 lished or being established in connection with 

 the others. 



V. PBESBYTEBIAN CHURCH IN CANADA. The 

 following is a summary of the statistics of this 

 Church, as they were reported in June, 1879 : 

 Number of synods, 4 ; number of presbyteries, 

 35 ; total number of ministers, 750 ; of pastor- 

 al charges, 857 ; of congregations (exclusive of 

 Manitoba), 1,027; of families, 73,116; of com- 

 municants, 107,715 ; of Sunday-school teach- 

 ers, 8,208 ; of scholars in Sunday-schools and 

 Bible-classes, 78,628. 



VI. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 

 The statistical reports of this Church, presented 

 to the Synod at its annual meeting in May, 

 showed that there were 270 congregations con- 

 nected with the Synod, having in their chapels 

 and mission-halls 131,496 available sittings, of 

 which 61,272 were let. The number of com- 

 municants returned was 53,031, showing an in- 

 crease of 2,192 ; number of Sunday-school teach- 

 ers, 5,768, with 53,855 scholars ; number of stu- 

 dents, 20 ; of district visitors, 1,746 ; of Dorcas 

 societies, 2,329 ; of young men's societies, 3,425 ; 

 of members of Bible-classes, 6,>43. The en- 

 tire income of the Church had been 182,719, 

 against 228,727 in 1877. 



The Synod met in London April 28th, and 

 consisted of 540 members. The Rev. Dr. Wil- 

 liam Graham of Liverpool was chosen Modera- 

 tor. The Assembly of the Welsh Calvinistio 

 Methodists having appointed a committee to 

 correspond with this Church, with the object 

 of bringing about practical cooperation between 

 the two denominations, the Synod instructed 

 its Intercourse Committee to take steps toward 

 this end. It was pointed out that it was ex- 

 pedient to form English congregations in Wales, 

 because the English language was forcing it- 

 self upon the people of the Principality. A 

 proposition declaring eligible to ministerial 

 charges in the Church " the ministers holding 

 pastoral charges and probationers of all Pres- 

 byterian churches, whose center of operations 

 is within the British Empire, and whose doc- 

 trinal standard is the Westminster Confession 

 of Faith," was discussed and passed. 



VII. ESTABLISHED CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 

 A Parliamentary return, giving the number of 

 communicants in the Church of Scotland, was 

 published in May, 1879. It shows that out of 

 a total population of 3,3rtO,018 in the kingdom, 

 515,786 are communicants in the Kirk, of whom 

 218,411 are males and 297,375 are females. 

 The returns show an increase of 55,000 com- 

 municants since the abolition of patronage. 



The General Assembly of the Established 

 Church of Scotland met in Edinburgh May 22d, 

 and was opened in the usual manner by the 

 Lord High Commissioner as the representative 

 of the Queen. The Rev. Dr. James Chrystal 

 of Auchinleck was chosen Moderator. The 

 Committee on Union with other Churches re- 

 ported concerning its correspondence with oth- 

 er bodies with whom negotiations had been 

 entered into, which showed that these bodies 

 were averse to considering the question of 

 union on the basis of the Establishment. The 

 United Presbyterian Church had expressly giv- 

 en the connection with the state as a reason for 

 declining to consider the question of union. 

 The Reformed Presbyterian Church, it was 

 said, had raised in its answer "an insuperable 

 barrier " in requiring " the recognition of the 

 descending obligation of the National Cove- 

 nant of Scotland and of the Solemn League and 

 Covenant of the three kingdoms." The United 

 Secession Synod maintained " it to be the duty 



