770 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



found its action incompetent, on technical 

 grounds, and had remitted the matter back 

 to the presbytery, whereupon the case was 

 brought before the Assembly. The Assembly 

 approved the action of the presbytery adverse 

 to the instrument, and ordered it to be carried 

 out. With regard to disestablishment, the As- 

 sembly adhered to its resolutions of the previ- 

 ous year, declaring that the time had come for 

 advocating such a measure, and, referring to 

 the teind (tithe) bill before Parliament, re- 

 solved "that the teinds do not of right belong 

 to the existing establishment ; that they ought 

 to be administered and applied with a view to 

 the good of the community; and that, until 

 this question is raised, and while things con- 

 tinue to be on their present basis, no legislation 

 recognizing that basis, and proceeding on it, 

 ought to take place," and directed a petition to 

 be prepared in accordance with these views, to 

 be presented to the House of Commons. "With 

 regard to the Society for Promoting Christian 

 Knowledge, an institution which, endowed be- 

 fore the disruption had come, in consequence 

 of that event was wholly under the manage- 

 ment of the Established Church, while the 

 members of the Free Church believed that 

 they should equitably be entitled to a share in 

 its administration, the Assembly resolved, in 

 view of several propositions relative to its 

 management : That the Church could " not be 

 satisfied with anything short of the opening up 

 of the management of the society, and the re- 

 moval of the restrictions by which the directors 

 have been prevented, since 1846, from appoint- 

 ing any persons as missionaries, catechists, or 

 teachers in the highlands and islands except 

 members of the Established Church," and in- 

 structed its committee to take such steps as it 

 might deem expedient for the attainment of the 

 ends desired. The application of the principle 

 of " local option " to the restriction of the sale 

 of intoxicating liquors was approved, and its 

 extension to Scotland was called for. 



XII. UNITED PEESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF SCOT- 

 LAND. The statistical reports of this Church, 

 as presented to the Synod in May, showed the 

 number of members to be 173,982, or 152 less 

 than the number reported in 1879. The total 

 income of the Church for the year was 383,- 

 004, showing a considerable increase. The to- 

 tal amount raised for congregational purposes 

 was 244,747, and the snm raised for mission- 

 ary and benevolent purposes was 81 ,799. The 

 decrease in the number of members, which ap- 

 pears to be becoming quite marked, has been 

 the subject of considerable discussion and cor- 

 respondence in the Scottish press. 



The Synod of the United Presbyterian Church 

 met at Edinburgh May 2d. The Rev. Dr. Scott, 

 the Home Mission Secretary, was chosen Mod- 

 erator. The most important subject considered 

 was that of the use of instrumental music in 

 ,the churches. Majority and minority reports 

 of committee were presented upon it. The ma- 

 . jority report recommended that the churches 



be reminded that it is in violation of the law 

 of the Church to introduce musical instruments 

 in worship, and that the sessions of churches 

 in which instruments have been introduced be 

 directed to remove them. The minority re- 

 port suggested that, if those who sent up me- 

 morials on the subject desired to institute pro- 

 cesses against violators of the law, they do so 

 in the session instead of in the Assembly. The 

 minority report was adopted, by a vote of 107 

 to 53. An overture was adopted, to be sent 

 down to the presbyteries, to secure from them 

 declarations as to whether the present law 

 should be continued or discontinued. 



XIII. WELSH CALVIJJISTIC METHODIST CHURCH. 

 The statistical reports of this Church for 

 1881 showed that the number of members 

 was 118,251, with 957 ministers, ordained and 

 unordained, and 1,334 chapels and preaching 

 places. The income of the Church for the 

 past year had been $786,750. 



XIV. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND. 

 The General Assembly of the Presbyterian 

 Church in Ireland met in Dublin in June. The 

 Rev. Dr. Smyth was chosen Moderator. The sta- 

 tistical reports showed that a decrease of 1,221 

 had taken place in the number of communi- 

 cants, and of 416 in the number of stipend- 

 payers, while the total amount of contributions, 

 140,749, was higher than it had been in 1880, 

 but about 14,000 behind the receipts of 1878 

 and of 1879. Of this amount 44,948 had been 

 raised for ministers' stipends, 22,266 for sus- 

 tentation. The debt of the Church was 77,- 

 682, or 1,608 more than in any former year. 

 The reports of the colonial and continental 

 missions referred to successful and promising 

 work that had been done, but which could not 

 be followed up for want of means. The Sun- 

 day-School Society reported 1,030 Sunday- 

 schools, with 8,997 teachers and an average 

 attendance of 73,144 children. The report on 

 Irish missions snowed that mission work had 

 been carried on in the south and west with 

 considerable success. A fund for aged minis- 

 ters was instituted by the present Assembly. 

 The question whether toleration should be 

 given to the use of instrumental music in the 

 worship of the churches, had been a subject of 

 discussion in the general assemblies for several 

 years without a final decision having been 

 reached upon it; and several churches had 

 availed themselves of the sufferance which 

 was accorded them from one assembly to 

 another to introduce and use organs. The 

 Assembly now resolved, by a vote of 206 to 

 185, to prohibit entirely the use of instruments 

 in the service of worship, and to command the 

 congregations which had introduced them, un- 

 der pain of discipline, to remove them immedi- 

 ately. Several protests were filed against this 

 action, and a new overture on the subject was 

 presented, to be considered by the next Gen- 

 eral Assembly. A communication was read 

 from the Government announcing its intention 

 to grant a charter to Belfast and Derry Col- 



