PRESBYTERIANS. 



597 



atal contributions of the Church for missions 

 id been $97,727. The Board of Ministerial Re- 

 ief had on its list of beneficiaries the names of 

 47 ministers and 59 widows of ministers. Its 

 total receipts from all sources had been $10,074, 

 and its endowment funds amounted to $19,674. 

 The Board of Publication returned gross receipts 

 <>f $31,009, besides rents from its real estate. The 

 Permanent Committee on Sunday Schools re- 

 ported upon the condition and work of those 

 bodies, with plans for their more complete organi- 

 zation. The Permanent Committee on Christian 

 Endeavor returned the offerings of the societies 

 to missions as amounting to $4,322. The Com- 

 mittee on Systematic Benevolence represented the 

 interest in the subject to be increasing, their cor- 

 respondence having quadrupled during the year, 

 and submitted a scheme of measures for the fur- 

 ther extension of the principle. The Historical 

 Society had endeavored to interest the presby- 

 teries and synods in its enterprise, had adopted a 

 constitution and by-laws, and had fitted up suit- 

 able quarters for its collections. A memorial ask- 

 ing that the Rev. Dr. R. V. Foster be removed 

 from his position as professor in the Theological 

 Seminary was denied, Dr. Foster having appeared 

 before the committee of the Assembly and af- 

 firmed his adherence to the Confession of Faith. 

 An amendment to the constitution of the Church 

 permitting the election of elders or deacons for a 

 limited time when any church may so desire 

 was adopted for submission to the presbyteries. 

 A plan w T as adopted for a " centennial endow- 

 ment " of the educational institutions of the 

 Church, the total sum aimed at being $1,000,000. 

 The Assembly, adhering to a former decision that 

 installation is essential to the pastoral relation, 

 directed that ministers not installed be hereafter 

 entered upon the minutes as " minister in charge." 

 It also ordered that a ministerial letter shall not 

 be accepted as valid after the lapse of one year, 

 and that after two years from the date of such 

 invalid letter the holder shall be regarded as 

 having demitted the ministry. Constitutional 

 amendments submitted by the previous General 

 Assembly providing for special meetings of 

 synods and of the General Assembly were found 

 not to have been adopted. In the case of the en- 

 rollment of the name of Mrs. L. M. Woosley as 

 an ordained minister, the action of the Kentucky 

 Synod directing the Avithdrawal of the name was 

 affirmed. The report on Sabbath observance men- 

 tioned an improvement in the mind of the Church 

 on the subject, and specified an increase in spirit- 

 ual life rather than legislation as the means by 

 which reform is to be brought about. The report 

 on temperance condemned the license system, and 

 urged voters to antagonize everything identified 

 with the liquor interest. 



Memorial of the Earliest Presbyterial 

 Meeting in the United States. A historical 

 monument was inaugurated June 14, at Free Hill, 

 Wickatunk station, near Freehold, Monmouth 

 County, New Jersey, on the site of the Old Scots' 

 meetinghouse, where the first presbytery of which 

 any minutes exist was held, Dec. 29, 1706. A 

 large assembly was present, in which the North- 

 ern and Southern Presbyterian Churches were 

 officially represented. The Rev. Dr. A. N. Hulli- 

 field. moderator of the Synod of New Jersey, pre- 

 sided; the monument was described by the Rev. 

 Ulen Boyd, and other addresses were made. 

 VI. Presbyterian Church in Canada. The 

 itistical reports made to the General Assembly 

 this Church in June accounted for 2,942 pas- 

 oral charges, with 113,141 families connected 

 "ith the churches and mission stations, 210,776 



members, 10,118 of whom had been received dur- 

 ing the year on profession of faith, 160,105 at- 

 tendants upon Sabbath schools, showing an in- 

 crease of 1,608, and 11,646 baptisms during the 

 year. The total revenue of the Church amounted 

 to $2,384,897, an increase of $114,241. The mem- 

 bership of the Young People's Societies had di- 

 minished by 3,765. A credit balance was re- 

 turned in favor of every fund of the Church. The 

 reports of Queen's, Halifax, Montreal, Knox, and 

 Manitoba Colleges showed increase in almost 

 every department, except in attendance of first- 

 year students, where a decrease appeared. Morrin 

 College, Quebec, had practically suspended opera- 

 tions, and the Board of Governors was consider- 

 ing what disposition should be made of the en- 

 dowment fund. 



The General Assembly met at Halifax, Nova 

 Scotia, June 13. The Rev. Allan Pollok, prin- 

 cipal of Halifax College, was chosen moderator. 

 The financial report represented that, notwith- 

 standing the unusually numerous special appeals, 

 the contributions of the year had been greater 

 than those of any year in the past, the invest- 

 ments yielded an average of more than 5 per cent, 

 interest, while the expense of administration was 

 less than 3 per cent. Seven hundred and sixty 

 thousand dollars had been subscribed toward the 

 contemplated Century fund of $1,000,000, and the 

 information obtained from the answers to circu- 

 lars sent out to congregations asking for esti- 

 mates of the amounts they would probably raise 

 indicated that the subscriptions would exceed 

 the latter sum. The agent of the Ministers' and 

 Widows' fund in connection with the Church of 

 Scotland a fund that had been left to be a subject 

 of special account when the union of the churches 

 constituting the Presbyterian Church of Canada 

 was consummated announced that the fund 

 would in a short time be wound up, having ful- 

 filled its purpose, when the capital of nearly 

 $100,000 would accrue to the general fund of the 

 Church. The results of a conference between 

 representatives of the Anglican and Presbyterian 

 communions held in Toronto respecting the ex- 

 tension of biblical instruction in the schools 

 having been made known to the Assembly, a 

 resolution was passed that the Church should 

 aim at securing the use of the Bible in the courses 

 of all departments and grades of instruction. 

 The proposed new Manual of Aids to Social Wor- 

 ship was subjected to criticism, and objections on 

 account of features which were regarded as ritu- 

 alistic, and was returned to the committee to re- 

 port to the next General Assembly in a modified 

 form. A proposition to take such steps as would 

 secure ministers qualified to speak the languages 

 of the Doukhobors, Galicians, and other settlers 

 in the northwest who do not speak English 

 was not favored in the Assembly. An overture 

 asking for the establishment of a term service in 

 the eldership was likewise rejected. These two 

 measures were desired by churches in the western 

 provinces to meet conditions temporarily prevail- 

 ing there. 



VII. Presbyterian Church in England. 

 The statistical returns of this Church, as reported 

 to the Synod of 1900, give it 318 congregations, 

 74,541 members, 7,595 teachers, and 82,488 pupils 

 in Sunday schools, and 8,929 members of young 

 men's societies. 



The income for foreign missions in 1899 

 amounted to 29,141, against 28,018 in 189S. 

 Nineteen European ordained missionaries were 

 employed, mostly in China, with 12 medical mis- 

 sionaries, 28 woman missionaries besides mis- 

 sionaries' wives, 28 native pastors supported by 



