In accordance with previous invitation, the Rev. JAMES MCCOSH, LL.D., addressed the Assembly in reference to the condition of the Nonconformist Presbyterian Churches of Great Britain. THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE.-HENRY B. SMITH, D.D., Chairman, made the following report, which was adopted: The General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, in a letter bearing date May 30, 1865, having proposed to us a closer fellowship by "the occasional visits of accredited deputies' from our respective Churches; and the same proposal having been confirmed in the address of the Rev. JAMES McCoSH, LL.D.; therefore, Resolved, That this Assembly cordially accede to this proposal for an interchange of deputies, on such specific terms as may hereafter be designated; and that two deputies be appointed to represent our Church at the next General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, in Edinburgh, May, 1867. Resolved, That the committee having in charge the correspondence with the Free Church of Scotland be authorized to make these appointments in the name of this General Assembly. Resolved, That we tender to the Rev. James McCosh, LL.D., our sincere thanks for the able and eloquent manner in which he has discharged his office as the virtual, if not technical, representative of the Free Church of Scotland; that we offer him the assurance of our personal honor and regard; and that we pray for his continued and increasing success and influence in the great and useful labors to which his life is devoted. Resolved, That copies of this minute be sent to the Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland, and to the Rev. Dr. McCosh. The committee appointed to answer the letter addressed to our Church by the Free Church of Scotland propose to the Assembly the following draft of a reply: The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (N. s.), in session at the First Presbyterian Church in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, May 28, 1866, to the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, greeting: DEAR BRETHREN:-The most welcome letter of your venerable Assembly, bearing date Edinburgh, May 30, 1865, and subscribed by your Moderator, the Rev. James Begg, D.D., has been received by our Assembly with heartfelt gratitude and approval. We warmly reciprocate your affectionate Christian salutations, and respond with lively emotions to your expressions of sympathy and confidence, and to your proposals for a closer fellowship. Though separated by the broad ocean, we are bound together by no ordinary ties. No Church of another land has a stronger hold than yours upon our love and honor. The one Reformed faith is our common heritage. We express that faith in the same symbols; we have in essence the same Presbyterian polity; and we are equally engaged in kindred evangelical labors at home and abroad. There are also between us many ties of a common ancestry. And we venerate the names of your early Reformers; our ministry is still instructed by the writings of your great divines; our faith is strengthened by the bright example of your heroic martyrs, who fought a good fight for religious and civil liberty; and in your especial conflicts and sacrifices for a Free Church you have had, these twenty years, our constant and warmest sympathy. We honor the high wisdom and extraordinary liberality which have made you prosperous and strong, and the new testimony you have given to the self-sustaining power of the Christian Church when contending for its righteous liberties. It is a good thing that the sacred fire kindled by the old Covenanters is still burning in the heart of Scotland, and that their flaming torches have been handed down from sire to son. In all these things, dear brethren, we do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. It is, then, with no ordinary satisfaction that we have received your proposal for an interchange of “accredited deputies" between our Churches, as occasion may serve. As you will see by an accompanying minute, this Assembly has unanimously resolved to appoint two such deputies to represent us before your venerable body in May, 1867. They will in due time be named and commissioned, and we bespeak for them a fraternal welcome. We also invite you to send deputies to the General Assembly of our own Church at its next sessions, in the city of Rochester, in the State of New York, May, 1867, assuring them a most cordial reception. We have this year been favored with an address, made in your behalf, by the Rev. JAMES MCCOSH, LL.D., of Belfast, Ireland, who came to us with ample testimonials from several of the honored ministers of your Church. Already known to us by his elaborate and thoughtful works, so important in relation to the great conflict between Christianity and some forms of modern infidelity, he hardly needed any external recommendation to insure him an attentive hearing. His eloquent and sympathetic words have drawn us to you by the cords of a common faith and love. The sympathy you express in the calamities and sufferings brought upon us by our recent war, in the assassination of our beloved and venerated Presi dent Lincoln-a martyr to the cause of human freedom-and your fervent congratulations upon the abolition of slavery throughout our States, as well as your wise suggestions, derived in part from your British experience, in respect to the future condition of the negro race, call for our grateful recog nition. These things have weighed, and still weigh, upon the mind and conscience of this nation. God has guided us by his wonder-working Providence, bringing good out of evil. He has sorely chastised us for our national sins, and we bow in penitence, yet in trust, beneath his mighty hand. He has indeed caused the wrath of man to promote his own high purposes of grace and wisdom. And in the difficulties and perplexities that still beset our path, in the vast social and political, as well as religious, problems that we are called upon to solve, we humbly invoke and rely upon his wisdom and grace. Here too we feel assured that your prayers will mingle with ours. You say that "the divergence of sentiment and action formerly existing between us" on the question of slavery "has now ceased;" and "as there is really nothing now to prevent a complete and cordial understanding between the British and the American Churches, we take the earliest possible opportunity of giving utterance to this conviction and desire of our hearts." We thank you for these words; we unite with you in the petition for the removal of all estrangements, and the establishment not only of our old, but even of a better and nearer, fellowship. And because of this our common wish and purpose, we are emboldened to say to you, with the utmost Christian frankness as well as affection, that during the progress of our recent and terrible struggle for the very life of our nation, involving as it did by a vital necessity the emancipation of the slaves, we have at times been deeply pained and grieved, by the apparent indifference of the British Churches to the great principles and the manifest moral issues that were here at stake. From the beginning of the great rebellion our American Churches, as with one voice, proclaimed the real nature of the contest. Our own Assembly never faltered or wavered in the declarations that it was essentially a conflict be tween freedom and slavery, and that national unity was necessary to national freedom. And we shall evermore regret that, in our darkest days, when we were in travail in the throes of a new birth, and when sympathy would most have cheered our hearts, we had, with few exceptions, such slight encourment from those so nearly allied to us in faith and in the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty. But these dark hours are past, never more, we trust, to return; and we are glad that the clouds are dispersing, and the mists vanishing away, and that we are coming to see eye to eye, and to know better each other's heart and mind. You allude to the interest with which you "shall watch the future history of the negro race within our borders." The views of this Assembly on some of the points herein involved are set forth in a declaration just adopted on the State of the Country, a copy of which will be sent to you. The freedom of that unhappy and long-suffering race has been bought at a great price of blood and treasure. Slavery is now prohibited by an amendment to the Constitution. The civil rights of the freedmen have been secured by law. Other guarantees will doubtless follow in due time. This nation is under the most solemn responsibility as to the future destiny of this class of its citizens. Meanwhile, our chief reliance must be on those social, moral and religious influences which alone can make men fit for freedom and truly free, and which alone can fully restore the union of the States and bind us together in a common brotherhood. In these troubled times, even when the horrors of war were upon us, the Great Head of the Church has given us fresh occasion to magnify his faithfulness. Our American Churches, no less than our republic, have emerged from this conflict still strong in their faith and order. The principles of our American Christianity have received a new vindication. Our benevolent contributions have been constantly increasing. And we are now girding ourselves for the great task that is laid upon us, especially in our Southern and Western States, among our freedmen and our emigrant population, and against the progress of Romanism, of materialism and of a false rationalism, in humble reliance, as we trust, upon the grace and wisdom of Him who will not leave us if we lean upon his mighty arm and follow the guidance of his all-wise providence. An increased desire for Christian union too has been kindled throughout our land. Many of our churches also have been visited with fresh outpourings of the Spirit of grace, showing that the Lord is at work amongst us as of old. We, too, desire with you, in a special manner, a closer fellowship between the Presbyterian Churches in our own and other lands. We are glad to see the movements in this direction in England and Scotland and in your colonial dependencies. The same spirit is at work among ourselves. The two great branches of the Presbyterian Church in this country are drawing nearer together; this year they have touched each other, and each of our Assemblies has appointed a Committee of Conference on reunion. Our deputies will inform you of the progress of this desirable object. And we fervently hope that here, as never before, all Christian Churches may forget their lesser differences, and unite together, as far as possible, in the great work of the Lord. Dear brethren, beloved in the Lord, we send to you these our Christian salutations, beseeching you to pray for us. We commend you unto God and to the word of his grace. May the one great Head of the Church bless you with all spiritual blessings! May our Churches and our lands live in amity and unity! May we all live for the glory of God in the kingdom of his Son our Lord, to whom be praise evermore. Amen. THE PRESYTERIAN HISTORICAL ALMANAC. EDWIN F. HATFIELD, D.D., Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, offered the following preamble and resolution, which were adopted: WHEREAS, JOSEPH M. WILSON, of Philadelphia, has for some time been engaged in collecting information regarding the history of Presbyterian Churches, to be published in his Presbyterian Historical Almanac; therefore, Resolved, That the ministers and elders of the churches under the care of this General Assembly be earnestly requested to co-operate with Mr. Wilson in his valuable labors on behalf of the Church. MANSES-BEING COMFORTABLE HOMES FOR PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS FREE OF RENT.-The Special Committee, J. GLENTWORTH BUTLER, D.D., Chairman, on MANSES and Ministers' Libraries, presented its report, which was adopted, and is as follows: That in the autumn of last year a Circular of Inquiry was prepared and sent to seven hundred pastors and stated supplies, and also published in our religious journals. To these circulars one hundred replies have been received. From these replies it appears that one-fifth of the churches have Manses, and one-tenth have Libraries for the use of their ministers. These replies convey a strong impression of the great importance of the subject-matter of the circular, and express the hope that the General Assembly will use every means in its power to bring the subject before and urge it upon the attention and practical regard of the churches. They also suggest the idea of creating a general fund for the erection of Manses. Without expressing any opinion upon the expediency of the latter suggestion, your committee deem it both advisable and practicable to bring the matter definitely before the churches through the action of the Presbyteries. They, therefore, recommend the adoption of the following resolutions: Resolved, 1. That this General Assembly direct its Presbyteries to send to the churches under their care a pastoral letter of inquiry and suggestion, with reference to the provision of a Manse and a Library for the use of the minister in charge of each congregation. Resolved, 2. That the Presbyteries be requested to embody, in a report to the next General Assembly, any information that may be obtained in the answers to the proposed inquiry, with their judgment concerning the creation of a Manse Fund, and also any practical suggestions appertaining to the subject-matter of Manses and Ministers' Libraries. Previous to the adoption of the report, Dr. BUTLER moved that JOSEPH M. WILSON, of Philadelphia, who has labored in this matter at his own cost for many years, out of simple interest in this great subject, be invited to address the Assembly, which was adopted. Mr. Wilson thanked the Assembly for the privilege of speaking in behalf of MANSES and Ministers' Libraries He issued a Circular of Inquiry in 1859, calling for information on the subject, and in 1862 introduced the matter to the General Assembly of this Church, which met in Cincinnati, Ohio. The support of the ministry, the sustentation of the various plans of benevolence which characterize the Church, the comfort and happiness of the minister's family, are all involved in the question of THE MANSE; and there are few subjects more worthy of the thoughtful and earnest consideration of the Church than that of securing a comfortable home for every Presbyterian pastor free of rent. It was, Resolved, That this General Assembly be dissolved, and another be required to meet in the Brick Church, Rochester, N. Y., May 16, 1867. EDWIN F. HATFIELD, D.D., J. G. BUTLER, D.D., S. M. HOPKIN, D.D. Stated Clerk. Permanent Clerk. Moderator. |