PRESBYTERIANS. 



731 



tributions of the mission stations and congrega- 

 tions to all the work of the Church had exceeded 

 the whole amount expended by the board. One 

 hundred and fifty-five congregations had been 

 added since 1880. 



The total receipts of the Board of Foreign Mis- 

 sions for the year had been $174,458 and the 

 expenditures $174,269. The debt had been re- 

 duced from $23,238 to $16,438. 



The contributions for the year to the foreign 

 work of the Woman's General Missionary Society 

 had been $16,674, or $119 less than in the previous 

 year. Thirty-six foreign missionaries were sus- 

 tained by the society 24 in India and 12 in 

 Egypt. Reports were made at the annual meet- 

 ing in May concerning the Bible Training School, 

 at Xenia, Ohio; the distribution of literature; 

 work among the freedmen, in connection with 

 which a farm in Alabama had returned a profit 

 of $600; a Little Girls' Home, at Knoxville, Tenn. ; 

 the magazine; church extension and parsonage 

 work; the Warm Springs Indian Mission; the 

 Orphans' Home; and the Hospital for the Aged. 

 A new hospital was to be established at Tanta 

 Egypt. 



The forty-first General Assembly met in Phila- 

 delphia, Pa., May 24. The Rev. W. J. Robin- 

 son, D. D., of Allegheny, was chosen moderator. 

 The Committee on Union with the Associate Re- 

 formed Synod of the South reported that no 

 progress was being made, except as the two bodies 

 were growing nearer together through the Young 

 People's Societies and co-operation in missions. 

 The Committee on Union with the Christian Re- 

 formed Church reported that the basis of union 

 submitted in overture had been defeated, but the 

 Synod desired correspondence by fraternal dele- 

 gates. The fraternal delegate of that Church was 

 present, and said, in his address to the Assembly, 

 that a growing regard prevailed among its people 

 for the United Presbyterian Church, and an in- 

 creasing desire for more intimate relations. There 

 was also a desire for closer relations with 

 churches of like faith, and a movement had been 

 set on foot with reference to this. The Com- 

 mittee on Ways and Means and the Commission 

 on the Debts of the Boards had worked together 

 during the year as one committee, with the re- 

 sult of securing larger contributions to the 

 boards. The committee appointed by the pre- 

 vious General Assembly on a comprehensive edu 

 cational policy presented a plan contemplating 

 control by the General Assembly of the establish- 

 ment and location of educational institutions. 

 The paper was discussed and referred to the Com- 

 mittee on Education. The Assembly advised that 

 new educational enterprises should be undertaken 

 by presbyteries or synods contingent upon ap- 

 proval by the General Assembly, to obtain which 

 their case should be brought by the Board of 

 Education before it for its action. To a me- 

 morial asking for action on the subject of mar- 

 riage with a deceased wife's sister, the Assembly 

 replied, after citing the refusal of the General 

 Assembly of 1869, by a majority of four to one, 

 to repeal the prohibition, that matters more prac- 

 tical and essential to the welfare of the Church 

 were clamoring for discussion and legislation, 

 and it would be wise to avoid the agitation of 

 that vexed question at this time. The Board of 

 Publication was instructed not to accept for pub- 

 lication in any of the Church periodicals any 

 musical composition which alters the authorized 

 wording of the Psalms in the construction of an- 

 thems, choruses, etc., but to require strict ad- 

 herence to the forms of expression found in the 

 metrical or the prose versions in all the books of 



selections they publish; and that all adaptation 

 of music for conventions and congregations be 

 published by the board. The organization of a 

 presbytery in eastern Virginia and North Caro- 

 lina, to be under the jurisdiction of the Synod of 

 New York, was directed. The Assembly advised 

 the institution of a Sabbath observance depart- 

 ment in the work of the Young People's Christian 

 Union, and entreated ministers and members to 

 give more earnest heed to their deportment on the 

 Lord's Day in every particular. Provision was 

 made for introducing the total abstinence pledge 

 into all the Sabbath schools and securing the 

 signatures of pupils to it. Concerning the juris- 

 diction of sessions over students of theology, the 

 Assembly decided that the standing of a student 

 in the congregation remains until he is ordained, 

 when he passes from the jurisdiction of the ses- 

 sion; and made it the duty of the clerk of the 

 presbytery to notify the session of the fact of 

 the ordination. Resolutions were passed con- 

 demning the construction put by the War De- 

 partment npon the " anticanteen law," and op- 

 posing the seating of B. H. Roberts as a mem- 

 ber of the national House of Representatives 

 from Utah. Delegates were appointed to attend 

 the convention of the American Antisaloon 

 League to be held at Chicago. 



IV. Associate Reformed Synod of the 

 South. The total number of members connected 

 with this body was given in at the annual meet- 

 ing of the Synod in November as about 11,500. 

 This represented an increase, mainly accruing to 

 the home mission congregations. The Synod met 

 in Charlotte, N. C., Nov. 9. The business 

 that elicited the most interest in the Synod was 

 the election of a president for Erskine College, 

 to succeed the Rev. Dr. Grier. The Rev. Dr. 

 Chalmers was chosen, but declined to accept. The 

 Rev. Dr. F. Y. Pressly was then elected. Nego- 

 tiations for union with the United Presbyterian 

 Church, which had been going on for several 

 years, had been suspended. 



'V. Reformed Presbyterian Church in 

 North America Synod. Statistics of which a 

 summary follows were reported of this body at 

 the annual meeting of the Synod in May: Num- 

 ber of congregations, 113; of missionary stations, 

 11; of ministers, 124; of licentiates, 21; of theo- 

 logical students not licentiates, 3; of communi- 

 cants, 9,875; *of attendants on Sabbath school, 

 10,387 ; of attendants on meetings of Young Peo- 

 ple's Societies, 2,436; net increase of members 

 during the year, 22; total amount of contribu- 

 tions, $164,485. 



The Synod met at Mansfield, Ohio, May 31. 

 The Rev. James Black, of Wyman, Iowa, was 

 chosen moderator. The subject of most interest 

 before the Synod related to the formation of a 

 denominational union of the Young People's So- 

 cieties. The question had been much canvassed 

 in the Church, but the Synod declined to take 

 favorable action upon it. At the meeting of the 

 Synod two years before, the Rev. Dr. McAllister 

 had been called to account for heresy in articles 

 on Church union published in his paper, the 

 Christian Statesman. The matter was then dis- 

 posed of by requesting Dr. McAllister to cease the 

 further publication of articles on Church union, 

 while the Synod expressed neither approval nor 

 disapproval of the views expressed in them. In 

 1898 the Synod had denied a request by Dr. Mc- 

 Allister for a removal of the restriction. The 

 matter was now brought up again, when the 

 Synod resolved that it perceived no reason for 

 continuing the restriction in force. The Synod re- 

 iterated its condemnation of all Sabbath-break- 



