pendence, from which we give one spirited extract: 'Resolved, 3d, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing association, under the control of no power other than that of our God and the general government of the Congress to the maintenance of which independence we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.'

"The most casual reader will notice the analogies in language and sentiment between this and the National Declaration, which was fourteen months later.

"We have illustrated thus the warm attachment of Presbyterians and their church to our national principles of liberty, and also their distinguished services. Two points remain to be illustrated, the influence of their republican principles on our government, and their services in securing complete religious liberty.

"On the first point, the proofs must necessarily be indirect. The framers of our Constitution followed no model directly, but rather built on fundamental principles. Yet the Presbyterian churches of the Reformation presented to them a model government, in which these principles were fully recognized, religious republics, with stable and true foundations, defended by great arguments drawn both from the rights of man and the revelation of God. Our adoption, not only of the great principles, but of analogous details, shows the force of the influence exerted. Hon. W. C. Preston of South Carolina says, 'Certainly it is the most remarkable and singular coincidence, that the constitution of the Presbyterian Church should bear such a close and striking resemblance to the political Constitution of our country.'

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"On the second point, we have the testimony of Bancroft: The rigid Presbyterians proved in America the supporters of religious freedom.'

"In the colonial period, Congregationalism was established in most of New England, except Rhode Island. In all south

of New England, Episcopacy was the favored form. In both sections, other churches existed by toleration. Now, in opposition to any kind of church establishment, even for themselves, it has been asserted, and may be fairly claimed, that Presbyterians urged and secured the doctrine of religious liberty, the entire independence of Church and State. Their record on this point was just as clear in those new States, where their influence had become overwhelming, as in those where they had not the supremacy. They proved to be above temptation. Their services during the war, throughout the country, were so distinguished, and their position so prominent, that no other denomination could have competed with them in securing favors from the General Government. But they never made a move in this direction. On the contrary, they felt compelled, by a declaration of synod, 'That they ever have renounced, and still do renounce and abhor, the principles of intolerance,' to allay the apprehension that they, in turn, might prove intol

erant.

"One point was still left undebated; viz., the policy of establishing and supporting all religions, as against the liberty and independence of all. On this point, the decisive and final struggle was in Virginia. A bill for the support of religion in all denominations, by means of a general assessment of the people, was introduced in 1777. It was opposed, on principle, by Baptists, Quakers, and Presbyterians; fought against by petitions, memorials, and conventions; the agitation ranging through seven years. The honor of the long struggle belongs to all three parties: the power was exerted mainly by the Presbyterians. At the last wavering moment, in 1784, when the legislature seemed disposed still to press the measure, the Rev. John B. Smith, on behalf of the Presbytery of Hanover, was heard for three successive days against it. "This decided the matter: the whole scheme was abandoned.' The great principle of the rightful independence of Church and State, new then, old

and glorious now, was thus established. It was adopted by the smaller States on each side of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, the Carolinas and Georgia, and in 1789 was incorporated into the Federal Constitution."

The following extract is from the report of Professor Henry B. Smith to the General Conference of the Evangelical Alliance at Amsterdam:-—

"Outside of New England, where Congregationalism has the ground, the Presbyterian churches extend, in various subdivisions, throughout the country. The main branch of the church was divided, in 1838, on divers questions of doctrine and polity. The two main divisions are popularly, not ecclesiastically, known as Old School and New School. The Old School, 1867, reports 35 synods, 176 presbyteries, 2,622 churches, 2,302 ministers, 246,350 communicants, and contributions to the amount of $3,731,164. In its foreign missions it has 40 churches, 330 ministers and teachers, and 1,200 members. The New School, 1867, reports 23 synods, 109 presbyteries, 1,870 ministers, 161,539 communicants, 163,242 Sunday-school scholars, and contributions of $3,106,870 for all its objects. Its increase last year was 10,938 members, and nearly $1,000,000 in contributions." Measures are in progress for uniting these two departments of the church; which it is earnestly hoped may succeed.

In all the great departments of education, literature, and missionary effort, the Presbyterians are among the most enlightened, self-sacrificing, and energetic of our Christian citizens. The Old School publish 11 weekly periodicals, 4 monthlies, and 2 quarterlies, of the highest grade; the New School, 11 weeklies, 10 monthlies, 1 semi-monthly, and 1 quarterly, of high literary merit. The Presbyterians support numerous colleges and seminaries, generally not ostensibly denominational; and, while they labor earnestly to circulate their own literature, they give their most devoted energies to the American Bible Society, and all the other great American institutions.

"As surely as the sun makes the day, religion has made this Republic. In the building of our free institutions, the churches have been the great formative agencies. Each has had its own work, and left its peculiar impress. Although the youngest of the great Christian organizations, we claim, that, in forming the character and determining the place of this nation in history, the Methodist-Episcopal Church has been among the most influential.

"The itinerant system of ministerial labor was precisely adapted to the wants of a new and growing country.

"The older churches had local strength; but they lacked the instrumentalities whereby the gospel could be made to keep pace with the advancing lines of settlement and the spread of population. Myriads of immigrants were leaving the shores of the Old World to seek a home in the New. Multitudes of our own people were annually migrating from the seaboard, and the abodes of civilization, to explore the wilds that lay westward. The older Christian bodies saw the people passing away from churches and ministers, but had no aggressive force, no arm of sufficient length, no agency sufficiently mobile, to follow the rapid march.

"The Methodist itinerancy supplied the lacking means. It rendered it possible to maintain regular religious service in any little neighborhood where there was a single family willing to open their house for divine worship, and entertain the minister for a day. The class-meeting bound the converts together in the bonds of tender Christian love, and, in the hour of spiritual peril, brought to the help of each the strength of Christian friendship. The quarterly meeting, with its generous hospitality and social enjoyments, its three or four stirring sermons, its love-feast, with its rich experiences and thrilling songs, was a holy festival, worth all the saints' days in the calendar. The annual conferences were * From an able paper by Rev. J. T. CRANE, D.D.

councils of war, where Christian soldiers told of their victories with tears of joy, and where they laid their plans for bolder campaigns and more extended conquests.

"Methodism not only sought out the people, but won them. From the very beginning, the great Head of the Church crowned its labors with wonderful success. Organizing its feeble scattered societies in 1784, with only 83 preachers and 15,000 members, it numbered, seven years thereafter, 259 preachers and 63,269 members. In 1816, fifty years from the date of Philip Embury's first sermon, there were 695 preachers and 214,235 members. In 1866, at the close of a hundred years of evangelical labor, the Methodist-Episcopal Church numbered a mighty host of 7,576 ministers and 1,032,184 members.

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Meanwhile, the Church, broad and elevated in her plans, and active and strong to execute them, has entered into every department of legitimate labor, and gathered with an unwearied hand all the elements of evangelical power and efficiency. Our sabbath schools reported last year (1866) 153,039 officers and teachers, and 914,587 scholars, with 2,542,000 volumes in the libraries; while the children's paper (The Sunday-school Advocate') circulated 300,000 copies, and the expenses of the schools amounted to $285,000 for the year. Statistics for 1867 show that we have 1,145,184 communicants, 30,571 preachers, and more than 1,000,000 Sunday-school scholars. In the department of religious publication, we have the book concern, with 7 depositories in our principal cities, with an aggregate capital of $1,213,000, and sales amounting, in 1866, to $1,245,000. The church also publishes 9 papers, with a weekly circulation of 147,000 copies, besides an able and successful 'Quarterly Review.' For the general education of the people, we have 23 colleges, 3 theological schools, and 84 seminaries or academies; in all, 110 institutions of learning, with 770 instructors and 22,305 students. In the year named, the church expended $275,000 for foreign, and $254,000 for