

PRESBYTERIANS. 



655 



the denominational institutions ; that a thorough 

 collegiate education be required of young men as a 

 qualification for entering the ministry, and presby- 

 teries be urged not to make application for theo- 

 logical students who are undergraduates and do 

 not intend to complete a full collegiate course; 

 and that absolute abstinence from the use of to- 

 bacco be made an essential requirement for receiv- 

 ing aid from the beneficiary fund. The intention 

 of the Assembly was expressed by resolution that, 

 "as so many of the young people of our Church are 

 in schools and colleges of other denominations or 

 in institutions indifferent to religion, we aim to se- 

 cure their attendance on our own institutions of 

 learning by continuing to raise these institutions to 

 the highest possible degree of efficiency, as well as 

 by the earnest use of our personal influence to that 

 end." A special committee was appointed to re- 

 port to the next General Assembly a comprehensive 

 educational policy. Declarations of former General 

 Assemblies condemning the use of tobacco were re- 

 iterated, and overtures were ordered handed down 

 to the presbyteries for addition to the book of gov- 

 ernment declaring the use sinful and inconsistent 

 with the Christian profession ; forbidding the ordi- 

 nation to the offices of deacons and elders of persons 

 who will not promise to abstain from it ; and direct- 

 ing that no student of theology shall be admitted 

 to licsnsure and no licentiate shall be ordained un- 

 less he promises to refrain from it. 



A memorial concerning the alleged violation of 

 the law of the Sabbath by the singing of voluntaries 

 was answered by a reference to the action of a for- 

 mer General Assembly authorizing the use of chants 

 in the worship of God. The work of the Church in 

 Egypt having become extended over a territory so 

 large that a synod was necessary, the Assembly 

 ordered the division of the Presbytery of Egypt into 

 four those of the Delta, Middle Egypt, Asyut, and 

 Thebes to be constituted into a synod to be called 

 the Synod of the Nile. The directors of the Trans- 

 Mississippi Exposition, at Omaha, having decided 

 to open its gates on Sunday, the Assembly asked 

 them to reconsider their action, alleging several 

 reasons why the exhibition should be closed on that 

 day. The directors invited the Assembly to visit 

 the exposition, offering transportation and personal 

 guidance. To this invitation the Assembly replied, 

 appreciating the courtesy extended, but declining 

 to accept it "on account of the action already 

 taken in the opening of the exposition on the Lord's 

 Day." A constitution for the Young People's Asso- 

 ciation was adopted, recognizing the affiliation of 

 the society with that, of the Associate Reformed 

 Synod, and giving the joint body the name of the 

 " Convention of the Young People's Christian Union 

 of the United Presbyterian and Associate Reformed 

 Presbyterian Churches of North America." Mem- 

 bers of the Church were advised " to weigh care- 

 fully and prayerfully the effect of their votes 

 upon the liquor problem, and so to use the power 

 of the ballot as to be clear of all responsibility for 

 the existence of the rum traffic." A Committee of 

 Supplies was instituted for each presbytery, who, 

 after consultation with vacant congregations, shall 

 appoint all the supplies, and through whom appli- 

 cations for appointments must be made. The Board 

 of Publication was directed to encourage the sale of 

 its books through retail agencies. 



V. Associate Reformed Synod of the South. 

 This Synod returned for 1898 95 ministers, 125 

 churches, and 10,868 communicants. 



The Synod met in Chester, S. C., Nov. 10, the 

 Rev. J. C. Galloway. D. P., being moderator. A 

 fraternal delegate presenting the greeting of the 

 United Presbyterian Church expressed the convic- 

 tion that the two Churches were one if the people 



could be got to see it. The Board of Foreign Mis- 

 sions was directed to enter into corresjMjndence 

 with the Board of Foreign Missions of the United 

 1'n sbyterian Church with reference to sending 

 missionaries to Cuba or Puerto Kico. A fraternal 

 delegate from the Southern Presbyterian Church 

 presented an overture from the General Assembly 

 of that body proposing negotiations looking to or- 

 ganic union, but the Synod declined to enter into 

 such negotiations. The question of accepting a 

 gift from Mr. Joseph Wvlie for building a girls' 

 dormitory at Erskine College was the subject of a 

 debate which turned upon the question of coeduca- 

 tion. The gift was accepted. 



VI. Reformed Presbyterian Church in 

 North America Synod. This body reported for 

 1898 119 ministers, 115 congregations, 9,990 com- 

 municants, 11,695 members of Sunday schools, 

 2,705 members of Young People's Societies, and 

 total contributions of $162,950, or an average of 

 $16.33 per member. Several congregations have 

 established home missions in destitute localities, 

 and the Synod has a mission among the Chinese in 

 Oakland, Cal., the Jews in Philadelphia, the Indians 

 in the Indian Territory, and the freedmen in Sel- 

 ma, Ala. The Board of Foreign Missions reported 

 to the Synod a debt of $10,000, which has since been 

 reduced. The missions are in China, wilh Tak- 

 II ing, on the West river, as a center, Syria, Asia 

 Minor, and Cyprus. 



VII. Reformed Presbyterian Church in 

 North America General Synod. The General 

 Synod met in Philadelphia in May. The Rev. 

 G. W. Scott, of India, a native Hindu, was chosen 

 moderator. The reports showed prosperity in all 

 branches of the work of the Synod. The India 

 presbyteries were declared to have equal rights, 

 powers, and privileges with the other presbyteries 

 under the care of the General Synod. These pres- 

 byteries reported 9 congregations, with 1,130 com- 

 municants, and a general prosperity, notwithstand- 

 ing the famine and the plague. The General Synod 

 had in 1898 41 ministers, 50 churches, and 6,288 

 communicants. 



VIII. Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

 The statistical reports of this Church are gradually 

 becoming more complete, only 201 churches having 

 failed to return the numbers of their communicants, 

 and requiring to be estimated for, against 293 in 

 1896. The whole number of communicants returned 

 is 180,635, against 175,642 in 1897. The number of 

 additions during the year was 15,646, or 2,572 less 

 than in 1896. Increase was shown in the number 

 of churches with installed pastors, in the num- 

 ber with preaching every Sunday, and the number 

 with Sunday school all the year; while the num- 

 ber of churches received by presbytery, the num- 

 ber of church houses dedicated, the number of 

 parsonages erected, and the number of churches 

 dissolved were less than in 1896. 



The total resources of the Board of Education 

 for the year were reported to the General Assembly 

 to have'been $13.776. More than 60 Mudi-nts had 

 been registered in the theological seminaries, while 

 the number of beneficiaries and theattendaiu-e uj ..n 

 the colleges and preparatory schools had bt-i-n 

 about the same as in former years. 



The Board of Ministerial Relief reported that it 

 had not been able to help all the deserving appli- 

 cants for aid. Less than one third of the congre- 

 gations 900 out of 2.900 had contributed to the 

 cause. The presbyteries were directed by tlu- As- 

 sembly to use their power in at least one meeting 

 during the year ' to correct the negligence of their 

 pastors and" sessions by positively calling them to 

 account for unfaithfulness." 



The net profits of the publishing house had been 



