either has abundant work; while the grave responsibility must press heavily upon a conscientious man, especially in cases of difficulty, which are by no means infrequent, is the obligation weighty, the tact needed very great, and the influence for good scarcely to be measured? No man need desire to be Secretary of one of our Boards, on the supposition that he will have a nice berth and an easy time. If he wants plenty of work, and some of it very delicate work; if he wants to spend a good part of his time away from his study, and his home and his family; and if he is willing to take very moderate pay for it all; then let him ask one of our Boards to elect him Secretary. We reiterate, in closing, the stirring words of the famous report made to Synod of 1848, as equally appropriate to-day: "in view of the signs of the times, and the rapid expenditure of the years of prophecy, should we not derive additional incitement to all due fidelity by the thought that the time is at hand, that the interests to which our institutions are subservient are approaching the hour of triumph; that the domes and walls of the identical structure we rear and sustain will glitter with the peculiar brightness of the millennial sun, and that the halls and chambers where we have counselled and prayed will re-echo the triumphant mingled shout of earth and heaven: Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God and power of His Christ.'" All of which is respectfully submitted, G. HENRY MANDEVILLE, Chairman. WM. RANKIN DURYEE, D. P. INGRAHAM, A. J. BEEKMAN, S. R. W. HEATH. The following are the Resolutions contained in the preceeding Report. 1. That no change in the organization of the Benevolent Boards of our Church is advisable at the present time. 2. That the several Boards be directed to reconsider very carefully this subject of expenses, both in salaries and incidentals, and to effect, if possible, a still greater reduction. 3. That the several Boards be directed to consider whether the Secretaries cannot come closer to the heart of the Church by more personal visitation; by visits to Particular Synods, to Classes at Stated or Special meetings; to Pastors and Consistories, holding special conferences with them and other friends in the congregation, of the cause they severally represent. 4. That the several Boards of Benevolence be commended anew to the fullest confidence, the largest liberality, and devoted cooperation of all our ministers and people. 5. That each Classis, (in which some such provision is not already made), be directed to appoint annually one of their number whose duty shall be to give special attention to the benevolent interests of our Boards in the Classis. ARTICLE VIII. SYNODICAL APPEALS. The Committee on Judicial Business having had referred to them a resolution on the subject of revoking licenses given to persons receiving a dispensation from the General Synod, reported in favor of adopting the resolution. The report was accepted, and together with the resolution, and a substitute offered in its stead, was referred to a special committee, consisting of Rev. E. T. Corwin, Rev. James Demarest, Jr., and Elder William H. Kirk, to report thereon to the next General Syncd. ARTICLE IX. CHURCH GOVERNMENT. Nothing occurred. ARTICLE X. DOCTRINES AND MORALS. Nothing occurred. ARTICLE XI. CUSTOMS AND USAGES. Reports from all the Classes except Arcot, containing their action in reference to the amendment to the Constitution proposed by the last General Synod (p. 313), were received, and referred to a special committee, consisting of Revs. John Minor, W. Ingalls, and Elder G. A. N. Ackerman, who reported as follows: Your Committee on Constitutional Amendment, report as follows: That 22 Classes vote in favor of adopting the change proposed in the new Liturgy relating to the form of marriage; 7 against said change; 3 have taken no action in the case, and 1 has sent in no report. Those voting affirmatively, are South Classis of Bergen, Geneva, Poughkeepsie, Raritan, Saratoga, Rensselear, Cayuga, Holland, Westchester, New Brunswick, New York, Paramus, Hudson, Kingston, South Classis of Long Island, Michigan, Montgomery, Newark, North Classis of Long Island, Passaic, Philadelphia and Schoharie-22 in number. Those against are Wisconsin, Illinois, Grand River, Albany, Greene, Orange and Monmouth--7. No action, Classis of Bergen, Ulster, and Schenectady-3. Inasmuch as a majority of two-thirds of the Classes have voted to substitute the Form of Marriage proposed by the Committee on the Liturgy for that now recognized, Resolved, That this Synod approves of such substitution, and hereby declares the proposed form adopted. J. MINOR, Chairman of Commitee. Resolved, That the General Synod would call the attention of the Churches to the requirement in the Constitution that the Heidelberg Catechism be regularly explained, in accordance with its deliverance, June, 1870, on the method of explanation, in which it was not intended that merely preaching on the doctrines contained in the Catechism should be allowed to take the place of reading each section in course, and explaining it in accordance with the constitution. For further action on this subject see report of Committee on Overtures. ARTICLE XII. SCHOOLS AND CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. The Forty-fourth Annual Report of the Board of Education was received, and referred to the Committee on Education, except so much as relates to vacancies, which was referred to the Committee on Nominations. The Annual Report of the Treasurer of the Board of Education, was received and referred to the same Committee. The Committee on Education presented the following report, which was accepted and adopted: The Committee on Education report that the only matter referred to them by the Synod is the Report of the Board of Education. From the details of the numbers of students in various departments and places of instruction, we learn that seven were licensed to preach the gospel in the spring of 1875, and are all in the service as ordained ministers; while thirteen more have been licensed in the spring of 1876, with places waiting for them all in the harvest field; and that the number already received and applying to the Board is in excess of that of those who have finished their preparatory course. Whatever contraction in expenses may be demanded by the times, your Board is in the condition of parents with a growing family-more expenses and more work before them. Whatever is superfluous must be cut off, but what is needful must be got, at all events. The Board has a debt of more than eight thousand dollars, but still the cry of the called of the Lord is heard: "Here am I, send With the preparation made both in New Brunswick and at Hope College, of theological halls, professorial chairs and accumu. lating libraries, we have indicated a corresponding movement of consecrated minds and hearts. We have the institutions provided, and now behold the men coming forward to occupy them. me. It is the duty of this Committee to call the attention of every church to the provision of ways and means for the support of the growing family. Such movements of men to the Lord's service must be recognized and cherished by the Synod, as the very seed-corn of the Church. There can be no substitute for the Church activity which arises from an inward growth. From our own families must come the supply of the ministry for our spiritual patrimony. If the work must be done only by strangers, the fields will soon pass into strangers' hands. Aid from without, however needed, valued or remunerated, can never supersede home energies. The kernel and the shell must grow together in the perfect seed. Historic life must be self-evolved. There are affections which strangers cannot exercise for our Church institutions, and results which can never be reached without a common historic origin, sympathies and influences. If the sons of the husbandmen are without the industry to work the paternal acres, an ancestral name will prove a poor substitute for a comfortable home. If now it be remembered that our home and field is not merely a section of this republic, but the wide continent and the heathen world, how pressing is the call on the families of the Church to be up and doing. It is intimated that the amount of money furnished by the Board is insufficient for the whole support of those who have no independent means for procuring the prescribed education for the ministry. In this fact the Committee perceive an opportunity of commending to the personal sympathies and direct interest of churches and church members, such young men, to help them by supplies, and especially to furnish them with suitable and remunerative employment as occasion may arise during their vacations. Your Committee notice that inviting fields in Maine, Nova Scotia and Canada are opened for them in decayed or incipient churches, where our theological students are occupied in missionary labor for four months of the year. In this way these fields are cultivated, while our own perchance, are suffered to lie waste. In this way some of our own students have been diverted from the permanent exercise of the ministry in our own, to other territory. Doubtless there are portions of our own Church in which as many of our students as may wish so to employ their vacations, or make use of the privilege of public labor accorded to the Senior Class in the Seminary, may eke out a competent support and some little provision for a library to be used in their subsequent ministry. We think these suggestions worthy of the regard of the Classes and the Churches, and of the endorsement of the Synod. The accounts of the Board are given very succinctly. On account of the want of details we are unable to say more, except that specific and full financial statements, especially in the items of expense, encourage liberality in contributors, while the want of details leads to the direct contrary result. In these days, when economy is become the law of every household and every church, it is indispensable that expenses be cut down to the lowest point, and the evidence of such |