great majority of Chaplains; and the Assembly earnestly exhorts all in its churches to give these brethren in the field a place in their sympathies and

prayers.

No. VII.-It was Resolved, That the noble devotion, labors, and sacrifices of our patriot soldiers and sailors call for our deepest gratitude and lasting remembrance, and that we regard it as the high privilege, no less than the imperative duty, of the church of God to minister in every possible way to their necessities, both temporal and spiritual.

Resolved, That the Assembly have regarded with deep interest the labors of the United States Christian Commission among the army and navy; that we believe it is an agency well designed to meet the necessities of the work, and that we most cordially commend it to the Christian sympathy and liberality of the churches here represented.

No. VIII.-It was Resolved, That the Permanent Committee on Foreign Missions be authorized to take measures to become incorporated, so as to receive and hold property in trust for the General Assembly, to be expended in Foreign Missions.

No. IX.-It was Resolved, 1. That it affords us great pleasure to renew our expression of confidence in the American Bible Society, as one of the great instrumentalities of God, by the dissemination of his Word, for the preservation of the civil and religious liberties of our land, and the moral and spiritual elevation of the whole family of man.

2. That we offer devout thanksgiving to Almighty God for the prosperity of the Society during the past year, enabling it to a large extent to meet the wants of the Army and Navy in supplying our noble men with the Word of Life, which has been to them an unfailing source of instruction and comfort amid the trials, sacrifices, and sufferings to which they have been exposed.

3. That in view of the increasing demand for the Holy Scriptures in the Foreign Field and the Home Work, we will encourage our people to increased liberal support of the Bible Cause; and while we welcome the accredited agents to our pulpits, we will cordially co-operate with them in every proper measure to advance the interests of this great and benevolent work.

No. X. That the General Assembly's Permanent Committee on Publication, as speedily as possible, procure stereotype plates of the Confession of Faith and Shorter Catechism, to correspond with the largest and smallest sizes of our Church Psalmist, and that every Psalmist hereafter bound and sent forth by the Committee have at the end of the same a copy of each of these indispensable Presbyterian documents.

It was Resolved to refer this Overture to the Publication Committee with discretionary power.

No. XI.-Has a Session or Church constitutional power in examining a candidate for membership to require abstinence from any error, practice, or custom which the members adjudge to be sinful and decidedly injurious to personal piety and to the interests of the Church of Christ? And if they have this power, then is it expedient to admit persons to membership who practice and defend promiscuous dancing and card-playing, and the use, manufacture, and sale of intoxicating drinks as a beverage?

It was Resolved, That it is the province of the Session to judge of the qualification of candidates for membership in the Church. For their guidance in the matters noticed in the Overture, reference is made to past acts of the Assembly, found in Digest, chap. vii., on Moral Questions, sections 3-5.

No. XII. That the Permanent Committee on Home Missions be requested and authorized to act as a Special Committee of the General Assembly, to receive and examine all applications that may be made to them by those desiring appointments as chaplains, either in the army or navy, and, if satisfied with the qualifications of said applicants, furnish them with a recommendation to that effect.

It was Resolved to postpone indefinitely the Overture.

No. XIII.-WHEREAS, the Providence of God has recently given special encouragement to Christian labor for the propagation of a pure Gospel in various parts of the world that have long been under the influence of Romish superstition, especially in South America and Italy; it was

Resolved, That this Assembly recognizes the AMERICAN AND FOREIGN CHRISTIAN UNION as invested with a peculiarly high and solemn responsibility, as pledged to a most honorable work, and as worthy of the confidence, affection, and liberal support of all our Churches.

No. XIV. It was Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to report to the next General Assembly, on the Relations of the Church to the WEEKLY RELIGIOUS PRESS-its interest in, and its duty in regard to, the Family Religious Newspaper.

Adopted; and D. Howe Allen, D.D., Rev. Clement E. Babb, Henry M. Field, D.D., Rev. John W. Mears, and Mr. Edward D. Mansfield were appointed the Committee.

No. XV.-A memorial from the Session of the First Presbyterian Church of Detroit in reference to fields opening for MISSIONARY EFFORT, especially in the West, South, and Southwest, and among the freedmen. As the main topics had been before the Assembly in other forms, no action was recommended beyond the adoption of the following resolution. It was

Resolved, That George Duffield, D.D., be requested to prepare and furnish to the Publication Committee, for the use of our Churches, a tract setting forth the demands for Home Missionary labors which have been imposed upon the Church by the recent developments of God's Providence in our nation. Adopted.

Polity of the Church.

HENRY B. SMITH, D.D., Chairman, reported as follows:PAPER, No. 1.-The Committee on the Polity of the Church, to whom was referred the Overture of St. Lawrence Presbytery, upon the Reunion of the two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, propose the following declaration:

1. That this Assembly cordially welcome all signs of increased love and union among those who hold to the fundamental facts and doctrines of the Gospel; and bears its solemn testimony, with self-humiliation, against whatever fosters alienation and genders strife among the disciples of our Lord.

2. That the tendencies of modern society, the condition of Protestant Christianity, the increase of fidelity, the progress of Romanism, and the present and prospective state of our own country, afford powerful arguments against further subdivisions, and in favor of that union and unity of the Church into which it is to grow, and which is to be its consummation; and that we record, with unfeigned gratitude, our profound conviction that the spirit of disunion and of sectarianism is waning, and that the

spirit of brotherly kindness and mutual confidence is largely on the in

crease.

3. That in an especial manner are those Churches bound to foster this spirit, who adopt the same standards of faith and order, and whose divisions are local, personal, and incidental, and for whose reunion there is only needed a wise deference to each other's rights and a higher measure of Christian charity. Adopting the same formulas of faith and form of government, all that is needed is to receive them in the same spirit.

4. That as the churches represented by this Assembly did not inaugurate separation, so, too, they hold to no principles and views, and would impose no terms, inconsistent with a full and cordial reunion, whenever and whereever the will of the great Head of the Church, as indicated by divine providence, may open the way for us all to meet together again, on the same basis on which of old our fathers stood: and that we should rejoice in such reunion, as a pledge of the future prosperity, and an augury of the accelerated growth of the kingdom of Christ through the length and breadth of our land; and that it is our united and fervent prayer to our common Master, that he would so remove all hindrances as to make a plain path for our feet, where we may walk together, being of one heart and mind, in the ways of the Lord.

5. That, while we do not deem it expedient now to appoint such a Committee as that asked for in the memorial of the Presbytery of St. Lawrence, yet, that this expression of our principles and convictions, with our heartfelt Christian salutations, be transmitted to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church now in session at Newark, New Jersey.

No. II.-From New York Fourth Presbytery inquiring what shall be done, in making up the annual statistical reports, with those members whose place of residence is not known to the Session. It was

Resolved, That according to repeated declarations of previous Assemblies, (see pp. 41-3 of the Digest,) such names cannot be stricken from the roll. Each Session, in making up its own report, is at liberty to state the number of such members. And that the question of providing an additional column for such cases in the statistical returns be referred to the Special Committee of this Assembly, which now has the subject of these tables in its charge.

No. III. The Commissioners from the Presbytery of Wilmington have been instructed to ask information of the Assembly on the following points: 1. Who are voters in an election for trustees of a church?

2. Who have power to call a meeting for the election of trustees of a church?

3. Who have power to close and hold possession of a church-the trustees or the session?

1. That the questions asked are wholly legal questions, to be determined. by the local laws, relating to church property, in the State where the church lies.

2. That, in the absence of any statutory law relating to the mode in which trustees shall proceed, the by-laws of the corporation shall govern the mode of proceeding.

3. That, in the absence of any specific rules of proceedings, the general principle of law, that the trust shall be executed for the sole use of those for whom it is held, shall govern the case.

No. IV. An application from Cincinnati Presbytery that Presbyteries may be authorized to receive for a time under their care churches in the slave-holding States, where we have no Presbyteries formed. It was

Resolved, That as a similar case was submitted by the same Presbytery,

in 1859, (see Minutes, pp. 16, 17, 18, and Digest, p. 131,) no further action is required.

No. V.-A minister who has laid aside the active duties of the profession, and engaged in a secular calling, though he occasionally preaches and administers the ordinances, and attends meetings of Presbytery, wishes to be informed whether it is compatible with the discipline of our Church, for him to accept the office of Ruling Elder in the church where he resides. It was

Resolved, That the question must, according to our Constitution, be answered in the negative. (See Form of Government, chap. xiii., sect. 2.)

No. VI. An application from the Synods of Genesee and Geneva, to change the boundaries of these Synods, by sanctioning the transfer of the Church of Hornellsville from the Presbytery of Steuben to the Presbytery of Genesee Valley. The action, on the part of the church, of the Presbyteries, and of the Synods, appears to be unanimous, and to be based on sufficient reasons. It was

Resolved, That this application be granted.

Judicial Cases.

D. HOWE ALLEN, D.D., Chairman, reported as follows:JUDICIAL CASE, No. I.-A memorial from Onondaga Synod, in relation to the action of the last General Assembly in the case of the complaint of Mr. S. Edwards Todd against certain decisions of that Synod.

In examining this case the Committee find, first, that the history of the case is briefly this: Mr. S. E. Todd was tried by the Congregational Church of Genoa on certain charges, and suspended from the privileges of the church. Mr. Todd entered a complaint against this action before Cayuga Presbytery to the effect that it was grossly irregular, unjust, and unconstitutional. The Presbytery sustained the complaint, but adopted no minute as to the effect of their action in regard to the proceedings complained of. Messrs. William Robinson and Esbon Lyon then carried the case to the Synod, by complaint against the action of the Presbytery, as being unconstitutional; especially in that it was secured by the vote of the Moderator, when he had no right to vote, and for other reasons which it is not necessary here to repeat.

The Synod, by nearly a unanimous vote, sustained the complaint and censured the Presbytery; and then, as they should have done, put upon their records a minute as to the effect of this action upon the proceedings below, namely, that it necessarily annulled the action of the Presbytery, and left that of the church untouched; or, in the language of the Book adopted by the Synod, reversed that of the Presbytery and affirmed that of the church.

The case came before the Assembly of 1863 by complaint of Mr. S. E. Todd against the action of the Synod. We have not this complaint before us; but infer, from the documents that we have, that the complaint was, that the Synod ought to have remanded the case to the Presbytery; but that instead of doing so, they reviewed and decided the whole case. The action of the last Assembly is found on pages 277-280 of their Minutes. The Judicial Committee found that the forms required by our Book in cases of complaint had not been observed; and yet, deeming that, according to

the spirit of the Book, the complaint was properly before the Assembly, proceeded to present their findings in the case, and to recommend that it be remanded to the Synod, with instructions to remand it to the Presbytery. Their report was adopted.

Upon the recommendation of the Committee it was

Resolved, That the requisition of the last Assembly upon Onondaga Synod be rescinded, and that the case be dismissed; but while the Committee come to this conclusion, they feel constrained also to express decidedly their disapproval of the language of the Synod, pronouncing the action of the Assembly "unjust and unconstitutional."

No. II.-The appeal of Mrs. Maria Hill from the action of Albany Synod, the Committee reported: That after examining the documents presented, and hearing the statements of the parties by themselves or counsel, your Committee are satisfied that substantial justice has been done in their case. The alleged irregularities in the lower judicatories which are complained of, are of a technical character or caused by the course pursed by the appellant or her agents. She could at any time have arrested the proceedings and prevented a conviction of contumacy, by submitting to the authority of her Session and answering their citations, and can now at any moment reverse the sentence and be restored in the manner provided by the tenth article of the fourth chapter of our Book of Discipline.

It was Resolved, upon the recommendation of the Committee, that the appeal of Mrs. Maria Hill be not sustained.

The Church Erection Fund.

THE Tenth Annual Report is as follows:

The whole number of grants made during the year is eleven, of which five have been loans and six donations. The amount of loans appropriated for these churches is $2,266 00; the amount of donations is $1,125 00; total, $3,391 00. The present condition, (May 1, 1864,) of the Funds is as follows:-Amount of Loans to Churches secured by Bonds and Mortgages, $44.687 56; amount of Donations to Churches secured by Bonds and Mortgages, $11,461 21; amount of Loans and Temporary Investments, $42,249 84; interest earned thereon to date, $621 00; cash in Bank, $19,997 51; total, $119,017 13.

Upon a review of the general history of this Fund, as it has passed under the observation of those to whom its administration has been specially intrusted, the Board cannot withhold the expression of their gratification and thankfulness to Almighty God. They believe, that, with comparatively few exceptions, it has secured the general approval of the Church. The Fund has been preserved in its integrity, not a dollar having been lost by call-loans. It has aided in creating Church preperty to the amount of more than half a million of dollars. The period has been one most eventful in the history of this country, involving churches in serious embarrassments, and doubtless curtailing the progress of Church Erection; and yet this large result has been already gained by the co-operating use of this Fund. When the war that now rages so fearfully through the land shall have been concluded, the Board anticipate a very large increase in the applications that will be made to this Fund to aid "feeble congregations" in erecting houses of worship. To this increase the Board will be prepared most cheerfully to