i;i I <li.MKI> CHURCHES. 



KENAN, ERN I 



679 



year (see "Annual Cyclopaedia " for 1891), had 

 ulimitted to the classes, to be voted upon 

 by them. Two reports were presented from the 

 oommittee having the consideration of the sub- 

 ject. The majority of the committee reported 

 that ollirisil rrturns of the voting hud been re- 

 ceived from M classes, and unofficial returns 

 from 7 oilier classes. Of the answers officially 

 returned, 18 were unconditionally affirmative, 

 2 conditionally affirmative, and 6 negative; 

 including the answers unofficially returned, 21 

 were unconditionally affirmative, 3 formally con- 

 ditional, and 9 negative. The measure "having 

 already been approved by the General Synod, 

 and having now received the affirmative votes 

 of much more than a clear majority of the 

 classes, it only remained for this synod to utter 

 a final declaratory resolution announcing its 

 adoption by the Reformed Church in America." 

 The committee therefore recommended immedi- 

 ate action to give effect, so far as this General 

 Synod was concerned, to the plan of federation. 

 The minority report assumed that the analysis 

 of the vote did not show " that necessary una- 

 nimity of feeling and consensus of views so 

 useful as the basis of a permanent federation 

 and successful co-operation," and proposed the 

 appointment of a committee to prepare a more 

 acceptable basis, to be submitted to the next 

 General Synod. The majority report was ap- 

 proved, with the exception of the enacting clause, 

 instead of which a substitute was adopted defer- 

 ring action on the proposed articles of Constitu- 

 tion and Federal Union till the next General 

 Synod, " in order that they may be considered 

 in connection with the report of the committee 

 on the broader plan of federal union [to include 

 all the Reformed Churches in the land holding 

 the Presbyterian system] then to be presented." 

 Resolutions were adopted denouncing the efforts 

 of the Roman Catholics to obtain recognition 

 of their schools in the public system ; refusing 

 to take any part in the Columbian Exhibition if 

 it is open on Sunday ; and condemning the 

 Chinese exclusion act. The Theological Semi- 

 nary at Arcot, India, was placed on " exactly the 

 same footing "as the other theological schools 

 of the Church. The Board of Foreign Missions 

 was authorized to open negotiations with the 

 Arabian mission (recently established by volun- 

 tary personal effort among Arabs) with a view 

 to receiving it under the care of the Church. 

 The Rev. James F. Riggs, D. D., was elected 

 Professor of Hellenistic Greek and New Testa- 

 ment Exegesis in the Theological Seminary at 

 New Brunswick, N. J. The Board of Direction 

 reported that, following the instructions of the 

 preceding General Synod, it had procured a 

 building for a Church Home in New York city, 

 at 25 E. 22d Street, to be occupied by the differ- 

 ent boards, woman's boards, ministers' meetings, 



etc. 



II. Reformed Church in the United States. 



A comparison of the statistics of this Church 

 for 18!>2 with those for the previous year shows 

 that it has enjoyed, above all losses by death and 

 transfer, an increase of 16 ministers, making the 

 whole number 885; of 16 congregations, to a 

 total of 1.558; of 4.753 members, total 212.830; 

 of 306 baptisms, total 14.526: of $28,940 in con- 

 tributions for benevolent purposes, total $287,- 



421 ; of $50,232 in contributions for congrega- 

 tional purposes, total $1,003.228. 



KENAN, ERNEST, a French philosopher, 

 critic, and historian, born in Trlguier, on the 

 coast of Brittany, Feb. 27, 1823 ; died in Paris, 

 Oct. 2, 1892. He was the son of a master of a 

 coasting vessel, who was lost at sea. The fam- 

 ily was impoverished, and he received his earlier 



ERNEST RENAN. 



education at the municipal college at Treguier. 

 In 1838 he carried off all the prizes at the col- 

 lege, and attracted the attention of the Abbe Du- 

 panloup, director of the seminary of St. Nicolas 

 du Chardonnet, who saw in him a promising 

 recruit for the priesthood, and sent for him to 

 Paris. He spent three years at this seminary in 

 studying for the priesthood, and then entered the 

 seminary of Issy, near Paris. In 1843 he began 

 the study of theology at St. Sulpice, and while 

 there became acquainted with the writings of 

 the German biblical critics. He lost his faith in 

 Catholicism, and on Oct. 6, 1845, left St. Sulpice. 

 He supported himself in Paris by teaching Ori- 

 ental languages while continuing his own studies. 

 In 1848 he obtained the Volney prize for an es- 

 say on Semitic languages. His sister Henriette 

 came from Poland, where she had been engaged 

 as a governess, and made her homejurith him. 

 An essay on the "Origin of Language" was the 

 first work to bring him literary renown. In 

 1849 he went to Italy and collected materials for 

 his doctoral thesis on the Averrhoes. In 1851 

 he received an appointment in the Paris National 

 Library, and in 1856 he succeeded Augustin 

 Thierry in the Academy of Inscription. In 

 1860 he went to Syria as director of a scien- 

 tific expedition for the exploration of ancient 

 Phoenicia with his sister and wife, who was the 

 daughter of the painter Ary Scheffer and a 

 Protestant, and familiarized "himself with the 

 scene of the Gospels. His sister, who read and 

 criticised the manuscript of the "Life of Jesus," 

 died of fever at Byblus. on Sept. 24, 1861. In 1868 

 the " Life of Jesus " appeared, and excited a storm 

 of controversy, and in the same year he was nom- 

 inated Professor of Hebrew at the College of 

 France. A hostile demonstration was made at his 



