700 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



visitation of congregations. A committee ap- 

 pointed to inquire into the treatment of mem- 

 bers of non-established churches in country 

 districts, reported that some instances of at- 

 tempts prejudicial to such churches had come 

 to their knowledge, while many church sessions 

 had represented that they had no difficulties of 

 the kind to encounter. 



X. United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The 

 Synod of the United Presbyterian Church of 

 Scotland met May 2. The Rev. John B. 

 Smith, of Greenock, was chosen moderator. 

 The statistical reports showed increase in the 

 number of baptisms and of members, although 

 the increase in the latter item was less than it 

 had been in the two previous years and im- 

 provement in the financial condition. The 

 capital of the Aged and Infirm Ministers' fund 

 was returned at 43,399, with an excess of ex- 

 penditure over income during the year of 

 439. Complaints being made of want of 

 caution in the administration of the fund, the 

 Home Mission Board was requested to consider 

 whether the rules regulating the admission of 

 annuitants required amendment. The report 

 of the stipend augmentation fund showed a 

 slight decrease in income. 



The Committee on Temperance and Morals 

 was directed to open communication with 

 other churches in order to secure harmony and 

 co-operation. The Synod declared itself in 

 favor of the Local Option bill then before Par- 

 liament, and decided to address a memorial to 

 the Government on the subject of the drink- 

 traffic in India and its rapid development in 

 Africa. The Ecclesiastical Assessment (Scot- 

 land) Bill was disapproved of. A proposal to 

 permit a session to elect as its representative 

 in the higher courts of the Church an acting 

 member of another session, concerning which 

 the presbyteries and sessions had expressed 

 considerable diversities of opinion, was remit- 

 ted. A report bearing on the supervision of 

 the Church's work and the tenure of the pas- 

 torate was laid over for another year. The 

 subject of the organization of a fund for the 

 widows and orphans of ministers was remitted 

 to the committee having it in charge, with in- 

 structions to consider if the proposed scheme 

 could not be grafted upon some of the already 

 existing friendly societies of the Church. A 

 report on the formation of guilds for the young 

 of both sexes was left to lie on the table for 

 another year. An address was ordered draft- 

 ed to the Queen on the occasion of her Jubilee. 



XI. Presbyterian Chnreh in England. The fol- 

 lowing is a summary of the statistics of this 

 Church for 1887: Number of congregations, 

 286; of communicants, 61,781 ; number of sit- 

 tings in churches, 146,742; number of pupils 

 in Sabbath-schools, 75,794; of teachers in the 

 same, 7,210; total income of the Church for 

 the year, 206,533. 



The Synod of the Presbyterian Church in 

 England met in Manchester April 24. The 

 Rev. William Sutherland Swanson, a returned 



missionary from China, was chosen moderator. 

 Reports were presented from the committees 

 on the Church's relation to the Confession of 

 Faith and on public worship. The former 

 committee, not being prepared to make a final 

 report, was continued, and instructed to pro- 

 ceed with the Compendium of Doctrine and to 

 consider the legal bearing of the declaratory 

 statement. The Committee on Public Wor- 

 ship reported progress in the work of examin- 

 ing the " Westminster Directory " and of deter- 

 mining what abridgments and modifications 

 were needed to adapt it to the condition and 

 wants of the Church at the present day, and 

 was continued. The Home Mission Committee 

 reported growth in the northern presbyteries. 

 A proposal to ordain missionaries for home 

 work was remitted back to the committee, and 

 it was instructed to inquire into the spiritual 

 needs of the classes who habitually absent 

 themselves from public worship. Favorable 

 reports were made of the foreign missions in 

 China and in India. In China there were re- 

 turned 16 ordained, 6 medical, and 8 woman 

 missionaries, 84 native evangelists, 46 stu- 

 dents, 100 mission stations, and 3,553 commu- 

 nicants; and 340 adult members had been add- 

 ed during the year. A " dutiful address" was 

 adopted to be presented to the Queen on the 

 occasion of her Jubilee, in which mention was 

 made of the " immense development of relig- 

 ious and philanthropic activity " that had 

 taken place during her reign. During the dis- 

 cussion of this paper, satisfaction was ex- 

 pressed that her Majesty had continued to 

 show an intelligent appreciation of the simple 

 worship of the Presbyterian Church. During 

 her reign, the English Presbyterian Church had 

 grown about sevenfold. The churches were 

 recommended to hold a special service on "Ju- 

 bilee day," June 21st. Overtures were adopt- 

 ed on the strict observance of the Sabbath, as 

 well as petitions against the Marriages Bill and 

 the opium-traffic, and in favor of the Sunday 

 closing of public-houses. Six delegates were 

 appointed to attend the meeting of the Presby- 

 terian Alliance to be held in London in 1888. 

 Upon the report that the temperance societies 

 of the Churchcomprised 23,884 members, gratifi- 

 cation was expressed at the measure of interest 

 taken by the Church in this work. In view of 

 the proposals for a settlement of a contending 

 claim with the Congregationalists for the pos- 

 session of a church in Tooting, it was resolved 

 that all such cases be submitted in future to 

 arbitration. 



XII. Presbyterian Chnreh in Ireland. The sta- 

 tistical summaries of this Church, as presented 

 to the General Assembly in June, showed that 

 the number of families in connection with the 

 congregations had increased by 528 ; of com- 

 municants, by 645 ; of stipend-payers, by 535 ; 

 of Sabbath-school teachers, by 142; and of 

 pupils in Sabbath-schools, by 1,074. 



The number of Sabbath-schools was now 

 1,107, with 8,939 teachers, and 101,230 pupils. 



