PRESBYTERIANS. 



691 



baptisms of infants, 10,812 additions by profes- 

 sion of faith, and 175 churches and 392 Sabbath- 

 schools organized during the year. The work 

 of the board among the " exceptional popula- 

 tions " of the land in which are included In- 

 dians, Mexicans, Mormons, and Southern whites 

 was represented by 83 schools, with 215 

 teachers. The Board of Education had aided 

 696 candidates, of whom 32 were Germans, 4 

 Bulgarians, 104 negroes, 1 Indian, 1 Mexican, 

 1 Corean, 1 Japanese, and 1 Brazilian. It was 

 indebted to the amount of $15,000. 



The Board of Publication had received $236,- 

 637 from sales and $46,386 from contributions 

 for missionary and Sabbath-school work. It 

 had employed 51 colporteurs, and had published 

 18,266,61 3 copies of books and periodicals. The 

 General Assembly ordered that it should here- 

 after be called the '' Board of Publication and 

 Sabbath-school Work," and directed that special 

 prominence be given to the latter branch of its 

 functions. 



The receipts of the Board of Aid for Colleges 

 had been $29,681. It had since its institution 

 in 1883 aided 16 colleges and 19 academies, at 

 which 2,950 students were attending, in the 

 total sum of $70,139. 



The Board of Missions for Freedmen had re- 

 ceived $115,204. It had employed 280 preach- 

 ers, catechists, and teachers, of whom 111 were 

 ordained ministers, and 198 were colored. It 

 returned 217 churches under its care with 

 15,880 communicants, and 220 Sunday-schools 

 with 15,689 pupils. Twelve churches had been 

 organized during the year, 1,923 members had 

 been admitted on examination, and 744 adults 

 and 879 children had been baptized. The 88 

 schools returned 195 teachers and 1,743 pupils, 

 and 15 night-schools were attended by 98 pupils. 

 The six colleges and schools, viz., Biddle Uni- 

 versity, Charlotte, X. C. ; Scotia Seminary (for 

 girls), Concord, N. C. ; Wallingford Academy, 

 Charleston, S. C. ; Brainerd Institute, Chester, 

 S. C. ; Fairfield Institute, "Winnsboro, S. C. ; 

 and Mary Allen Seminary (for girls), Crockett, 

 Texas, returned an enrollment of 1,800 stu- 

 dents. 



The receipts of the Board of Foreign Missions 

 had been $784,157, and its expenditures $780,- 

 348. The missionary work had been carried on 

 on the American Continent among eleven tribes 

 of Indians and theresident Japanese and Chinese 

 in the United States; in Mexico, Guatemala, 

 the United States of Colombia, Brazil, and 

 Chili ; in Africa, among the inhabitants of 

 Liberia and those of the Gaboon and Corisco 

 region; and in Asia, in India, Siam, China, 

 Japan, Corea, Persia, and Syria. The Board 

 had al>o :t--i~t. >d evangelistic work in Roman 

 Catholic countries in Europe through approved 

 societies on the Continent. It had had in com- 

 mission during the year 173 ordained mission- 

 aries, 30 laymen (mostly physicians), and 296 

 women ; together with 134 native ordained 

 ministers, 154 licentiates, and 756 Bible-readers, 

 catechists, etc., making a total force in its em- 



ploy of 1,543 laborers. Three hundred and ten 

 organized churches were on the roll, with 

 21,420 communicants, of whom 2,791 had been 

 added during the year. These churches re- 

 ported contributions to the amount of $28,552. 

 The aggregate attendance on schools of all 

 grades was 23,329. The restrictions imposed 

 by the French Government in the territory 

 occupied by the Gaboon and Corisco Mission 

 had become so severe as virtually to tie the 

 hands of the missionaries and drive them from 

 the field. After efforts to secure modifications 

 of these restrictions had failed, the board had 

 been constrained to take measures to transfer 

 that mission to another evangelical body, and 

 to secure foothold, if possible, within German 

 territory. 



General Assembly. The General Assembly 

 met in Omaha, Nebraska, May 19. The Rev. 

 Joseph T. Smith, D. D., of Baltimore, Md., 

 was chosen moderator. The following action 

 was unanimously adopted respecting the rela- 

 tions of this church with the Presbyterian 

 Church in the United States (Southern Pres- 

 byterian Church) : 



Whereas, The Synod of Missouri, in connection with 

 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of 

 the United States of America^ at its meeting in Fulton, 

 Mo., in October, 1886, unanimously adopted the fol- 

 lowing paper ana declaration of principles, to wit : 



It has come to the knowledge of this Synod that 

 many brethren belonging to the Synod in connection 

 with" the General Asse'mbly of the Presbyterian 

 Church in the United States, are under misapprehen- 

 sion with regard to the position of this body touching 

 the spiritual or non-political character of the Church, 

 and also touching the rights of individuals under the 

 constitution of the Church. Owing to this misappre- 

 hension, and to the continued separation of the two 

 Synods, many of the congregations on both sides are 

 greatly weakened, our educational institutions arc 

 partially paralyzed, and all of our interests are serious- 

 ly crippled. With the hope of healing for ever the 

 breach between us, we once more affectionately extend 

 the hand of fellowship to our separated brethren, and 

 cheerfully reaffirm the action unanimously taken by 

 the Synod in 1873, as follows: 



(1) We affirm the spiritual character of the Church 

 as separated from the kingdoms of this world, and 

 having no other head but the Lord Jesus Christ, as 

 entitled to speak only where he has spoken, and to 

 legislate only where he has legislated ; we also recog- 

 nize the rights of conscience, and the right of respect- 

 ful protest on the part of the humblest member of the 

 Presbyterian household of faith, and declare the obli- 

 gation of all our judicatories to be subject to the au- 

 thority and to follow the doctrines of our ecclesiastical 

 constitution. 



(2) We distinctly and particularly affirm our belief 

 in the following principles and statements found in our 

 standards, to wit : " Synods and councils are to handle 

 or conclude nothing but that which is ecclesiastical, 

 and are not to intermeddle with civil affairs, which 

 concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble 

 petition in cases extraordinary 2 or by way of advice ror 



conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrine* 

 and commandments of men, which are in anything 

 contrary to his word, or beside it in matters of faith 

 or worship. . . . that all church power, whether ex- 

 ercised by the body in general, or in the way of repre- 

 sentation' by delegated authority, is only ministerial 



