772 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



21. The Rev. E. B. Orisman, D. D., of Texas, 

 was chosen moderator. 



The Joint Committee on Organic Union with 

 the Methodist Protestant Church, reported 

 that it had decided to leave the question of 

 polity and name until after the question of un- 

 ion as to doctrine is determined. Time ought 

 to be taken calmly and properly to consider the 

 subject. The Methodist Protestant members 

 of the committee had expressed willingness to 

 take the confession as it is, but, in order to 

 avoid endless explanations, they preferred to 

 omit from it the section on preservation of be- 

 lievers. As the formulated result of their de- 

 liberations, the committee declared : " We have 

 carefully examined the creeds of the two 

 churches, and find no difference whatever, ex- 

 cept that which might grow out of the doc- 

 trines of the ' preservation of believers ' and 

 11 apostasy,' which we agree are not essential 

 in the Christian system, and may with propri- 

 ety be left open and unexpressed in the creed 

 of the United Church. We have also exam- 

 ined the formulated expressions of the creeds 

 of the respective churches, as stated in the 

 Confession of Faith of the Cumberland Pres- 

 byterian Church and the Discipline of the 

 Methodist Protestant Church, and, while each 

 sets forth the doctrines clearly, that of the 

 Cumberland Presbyterian Church is more full 

 and systematic, and we could confidently rec- 

 ommend it to the favorable consideration of 

 a joint convention of the two churches, if such 

 should be held." The committee had not felt at 

 liberty to proceed further for tli3 present with 

 the work of organic union, than to ascertain 

 that no doctrinal difficulties stood in the way 

 of it, nor material differences in polity. The 

 General Assembly resolved by a large majority : 



Whereas, The report of the joint convention of 

 the committees on organic union, appointed by the 

 General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian 

 Church, and by the General Convention of the 

 Methodist Protestant Church is before us ; and 



Whereas, The matters involved are of great conse- 

 quence to the kingdom of God, and should not be de- 

 cided without deliberation ; and 



Whereas, The Methodist Protestant General Con- 

 ference does not meet until May, 1888, and hence 

 there is no need of haste : Therefore, 



Resolved, That the said report be referred for action 

 to the next meeting of this General Assembly at Cov- 

 ington, Ohio, May, 1887. 



V. Presbyterian Church in Canada. The Com- 

 mittee on Statistics of this Church made re- 

 turns to the General Assembly in June, which 

 are summarized as follow : 



Synods 



Presbyteries ' 



Pastoral charges 



Churches, or stations 



Families 



Communicants 



Added on profession during the year 



Baptisms of adults 



Baptisms of infants 



Elders "..'..'..'. 



Other office-hearers ' " ' 



Teachers in Sunday-schools 11.761 



Pupils in Sunday-schools 100 937 



AMOUNT OF CONTRIBUTIONS. 

 Congregational purposes 



Colleges 



Home-mission fund ... 



Augmentation fund 



French evangelization 



Foreign missions 



Aged and infirai ministers 



Widows and orphans 



5 



89 



773 



1.643 



71.911 



127.611 



10.555 



1,003 



9,995 



4,770 



7.7<i7 



$1,260,706 



46,496 



32,509 



33.07T 



19,986 



43,582 



7,890 



5,376 



The General Assembly of the Presbyterian 

 Church in Canada met in Hamilton, June 9. 

 The Rev. J. K. Smith was chosen moderator. 

 The report on home missions showed that 

 $37,000 had been spent on missionary work 

 proper, $18,500 of it in the Northwest; in ad- 

 dition to which $31,000 had been given for the 

 augmentation of stipends in weak congrega- 

 tions to the minimum amount of $750 per an- 

 num, with a manse; $5,640 had been raised 

 and expended by college missionary associa- 

 tions ; and $579 had been contributed specially 

 for a mission to lumbermen in the woods dur- 

 ing the winter; making the whole amount 

 spent in work relative to home missions $74,- 

 220. The missions comprised 351 congrega- 

 tions and mission settlers, 5,119 families, 4,769 

 communicants, 145 Sunday-schools with 5,727 

 attendants upon them, 89 churches, and 

 manses. The Church and Manse Building fund 

 had during three years appropriated $38.393 in 

 aid of the erection of 75 building*, having a to- 

 tal value of $91,710. The contributions during 

 the year to the work of the Board of French 

 Evangelization, were returned at about $30,000. 

 The Board of Foreign Missions reported that 

 its estimates for the ensuing year's work were 

 for $71,000. The mission to the Indians in the 

 Northwest was still expanding. Work had 

 been begun during the year on five new re- 

 serves, and three new schools had been opened ; 

 thirteen reserves were now occupied. The 

 Church has also missions to the coolies in 

 Trinidad and Demerara, to the New Hebrides 

 Islands, in Central India, and in Formosa. In 

 Formosa more than 1,100 converts had been 

 baptized, and four new churches had been 

 erected with money paid by the Chinese Gov- 

 ernment as indemnity for the destruction of 

 chapels during the recent Franco-Chinese war. 

 A resolution was passed in the Assembly rep- 

 resenting to the Government of Canada ''the 

 imperative necessity of at once canceling all 

 appointments of agents, in its relations with 

 the Indians of the Northwest, who are known 

 to be tyrannical, unjust, or immoral, and of fill- 

 ing their places with men of integrity, sobrie- 

 ty, and purity." A report from a Committee 

 on Co-operation with other churches in fields 

 where no one denomination is strong enough 

 to sustain itself, was sent down to the pres- 

 byteries. Steps were taken for inviting the 

 co-operation of the American churches in la- 

 bors for the suppression of unnecessary Sun- 

 day traffic and labor on railways. A proposal 

 to consolidate the six theological seminaries, 

 which had been in the previous year referred 

 to a committee was dismissed. An overture 

 for removing the restrictions against marrying 



