The condition of all donations from this source shall be, that, in case the church or congregation shall cease to be connected with the General Assembly, or their corporate existence shall cease, or their house of worship be alienated except for the building or purchase of a better house of worship, they shall refund to the Board the amount which they have so received, with interest from the time of receiving it.

The fulfilment of the above condition shall, in all cases, be secured by the bond of the Trustees of the congregation, and a mortgage on their house and lot, made in favor of the Board; which bond and mortgage, duly executed and recorded, shall always be placed in the possession of the Board, before any money is paid over to the congregation.

ARTICLE XIII.

In accepting this trust and adopting this Plan, the General Assembly hereby declares, that the first article shall admit of no alteration or amendment, and that no change shall be made in any other part of the Plan by any future General Assembly, except by an affirmative vote of two thirds of all the members whose names have been entered upon the roll.

SUPPLEMENTARY ARTICLE.

As supplementary to this Plan, and in order to enable the Board fully to meet all the reasonable demands of feeble congregations for aid in erecting houses of public worship, the General Assembly earnestly recommends all the congregations within its bounds to take up annual collections, and transmit them to the Treasurer of the Board to be appropriated by said Board, and distributed by gift for the objects contemplated in the Plan, and on the conditions and limitations prescribed therein.

And the better to secure this end, it shall be the duty of the Board to present, with their Annual Report, an estimate of the amount probably needed for the ensuing year, together with the facts and reasons upon which such estimate is based, in order that the Assembly may determine the amount it will recommend the churches to raise by voluntary contribution.

It was further Resolved, 1. That the Plan of Church Erection now adopted be put into operation upon, and take effect from, the first day of August, 1866.

Resolved, 2. That, in accordance with the suggestion contained in the foregoing report of the Standing Committee, the Board of Trustees of Church Erection be directed to appoint a Secretary, whose relations to the Board and whose functions of office shall correspond with those of the Corresponding Secretary of the Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions.

The Standing Committee on Church Erection further reported

the recommendation that the overtures and applications for aid made to this Assembly be referred to the Board of Trustees of Church Erection, with instructions that they afford all possible help to such of these churches applying as have special claims for consideration. The report was adopted.

Adjourned until this evening, at 7 o'clock P.M.
Concluded with prayer.

WEDNESDAY, May 23d, 74 o'clock P.M.

The Assembly met, and united with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church now in session at the Second Presbyterian Church of this city, and a large number of fellow-Christians, in the celebration of the Lord's Supper.

After the service, adjourned until Friday at 9 o'clock P.M.

FRIDAY, May 25th, 9 o'clock A.M.

The Assembly met, and was opened with prayer.

The first hour was occupied with devotional services.

The minutes of the sessions of Wednesday afternoon and evening were read and approved.

The Standing Committee on Education for the Ministry presented their report, which was accepted. Pending its consideration,

The Assembly adjourned until 3 o'clock P.M.
Concluded with prayer.

FRIDAY, May 25th, 3 o'clock P.M.

The Assembly met, and was opened with prayer.

The minutes of the last session were read and approved. The consideration of the report of the Standing Committee on Education for the Ministry was resumed.

The report, with an additional resolution, was adopted, and is as follows:

The Standing Committee on Education for the Gospel Ministry report that they have given their attention to the Annual Report of the Permanent Committee on Education, which was placed in their hands.

They find gratifying evidence of enlargement in both directions -that of means, and that of candidates for the ministry. The

amount of funds is about the same as last year. The increase in young men is thirty-five per cent. Though the amount paid to each young man is considerably in advance of former years, as ordered by the last General Assembly, the Permanent Committee have been enabled to fulfil their engagements. No suitable applicant for aid has been turned away empty. It is believed, that the importance of the educational Cause in successfully carrying forward the kingdom of Christ is being more generally realized, and a deeper and more permanent state of feeling is being awakened on the subject.

Nevertheless, notwithstanding all that is calculated to cheer our hearts, and encourage the Permanent Committee to go forward in their chosen work, the pressing demands of the Church in this direction have not been met. All our efforts are disprotionate to the calls of Providence. At the present rate of bringing forward young men into the ministry, the vacancies made by the superannuated and the dead only are filled. When it is considered, how many are taken from the active duties of the ministry to become presidents and professors in our colleges, instructors in our theological seminaries, and secretaries and agents in our benevolent operations, (and there seems to be no better way,) and the number who turn aside through failure of health, it is not surprising that the demand should outrun the supply. Not to mention the wants of the older States, when we consider the fields that are constantly opening before us in the newer portions of the country, the case is truly alarming. Our excellent Secretary of Home Missions tells us in his Report that we have no missionary in Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Washington, and the State of Oregon - not because there are not calls for men, but because the men cannot be found. The Report also on Foreign Missions speaks of an equal want of men for the missionary work abroad. The cry for men, almost frantic, from East-Tennessee, uttered on this floor, still rings in our ears. claims of the freedmen, also, for a preached Gospel cannot be ignored.

The

Standing as we do at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri, pouring their flood-tide of waters at our feet to the ocean; turning the eye from this central position to the North, the West, and the South; viewing the present population and the long lines of emigration, both home and foreign; passing up these mighty rivers and their numerous tributaries; marking the moral forces already at work on this field, "the man of sin," as in this city, strongly intrenched with churches, schools, and institutions for charitable purposes, and commanding millions of money, the old fanaticism of the early Church revived on the banks of the Rhine in the form of Rationalism and Pantheism now transplanted and made to flourish on American soil, and the motley crew of materialism and infidelity of indigenous origin-contemplating all this, the Educational Cause in preparing men for the ministry becomes of vital importance. Viewed in its related as

pects, and in the interests dependent upon an educated ministry, the Educational Cause should receive far more of the prayers and contributions of the Church. Pious parents should dedicate their sons to the ministry. The elders should seek out promising young men, and confer with them on the subject. Pastors should confer with young men recently converted to God, and roll the burden of preaching the Gospel upon their hearts. Presbyterian committees on this subject should be more faithful. Scholarships to the amount of twenty-five hundred dollars each should be secured, the interest of which will yield the annual appropriation to one young man.

The day of fasting and prayer for colleges, seminaries, and other institutions of learning, should be more generally observed. Collections, not in a few but in all the churches, should be statedly taken up. The Plan of the General Assembly is a good one, and has worked well. It is only needful that presbyters, and pastors, and churches be more faithful in putting it into operation. The Committee would recommend the adoption of the following resolutions:

Resolved, 1. That the demand for educated ministers in our country was never greater than at the present time.

Resolved, 2. That the Educational Cause should occupy a higher place in the estimation of pastors and the Church.

Resolved, 3. That the day of fasting and prayer for colleges, and other institutions of learning, be faithfully observed; that pious parents consecrate their sons to the work of the ministry; that this subject be annually presented from the pulpit; and that continual prayer be offered to the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth many more laborers into his harvest.

Resolved, 4. That the appropriation to young men for the past year be the same, namely, thirty-three per cent above what the rule requires; one hundred and sixty dollars to a theological, one hundred and thirty dollars to a collegiate, and one hundred dollars to a preparatory student.

The names of the following persons are presented to fill the vacancy occurring by the expiration of the term of office in the class elected in 1863: John J. Owen, D.D., LL.D., Jonathan F. Stearns, D.D., Jesse W. Benedict, Esq., William W. Wicks, and Charles Taylor.

As supplementary to their report, the Committee report that they have examined the "Memorial of the Presbytery of Union to the General Assembly in Relation to Maryville College," and also have listened to remarks from brethren in relation to other institutions of learning in East-Tennessee.

The Committee are gratified to see so much interest manifested in the subject of Education, and express the hope that all these institutions may be retained in the service of the Church.

Resolved, That the general subject of Education, in connection

with our Church in East-Tennessee, be favorably received by our churches; and that what funds may be raised shall be expended under the direction of the Presbyteries of East-Tennessee, until the Synod of Tennessee shall have taken the whole subject under its care.

Resolved, That this Assembly recommend the Rev. Lucius I. Root as an Agent to raise funds for this object, according to the above resolution.

On the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Church Erection, the following preamble and resolutions were adopted:

Whereas, A sum not less than $35,000, in addition to the interest accruing from the Permanent Fund, will probably be required for the aid of feeble churches this year, in providing houses of worship for their use; therefore,

Resolved, 1. That the third Sabbath of December next be fixed as the day for a general collection for the purpose of raising this sum, and that our Presbyteries and pastors be requested to use their utmost endeavors to secure the full amount designated.

Resolved, 2. That the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Church Erection be requested to prepare an Address to the churches in connection with this Assembly, explanatory of the changes introduced into the Plan, and urging the necessity for a liberal contribution to the Fund, to be distributed in aid of the feeble congregations contemplated by the "Supplementary Article" of the Plan, and that the Address be published in all the papers of the Denomination.

The Special Committee on the State of the Country presented a report, which was unanimously adopted, and is as follows:

The Committee on the State of the Country propose to the Assembly the following Declaration :

This Assembly records its devout gratitude to Almighty God, that He has delivered us from the calamities and horrors of civil war, and restored peace throughout our borders:

That He has so far quelled the spirit of secession that the supreme and rightful authority of our beneficent National Government is now restored in all our States and Territories, and we remain, as we were intended to be, one Nation, with one Constitution, and one destiny:

That He has so overruled the progress and results of this unparalleled conflict as to make it manifest that our republican institutions are as well fitted to bear the stress and shock of war as to give prosperity and increase in times of peace:

That, by His wise and constraining Providence, guiding us in ways we knew not, He has caused the passions and wrath of man to enure to the welfare of humanity, so that a whole race has been emancipated from an unjust and cruel system of bondage,