ramEtitait trztrOtrian. THURSDAY, MAY 31, 1866 GENERAL ASSEMBLY. (Continued from the Second Page.). FIFTH DRY TUESDAY, May 22. The hour of morning devotion was appro priated to prayer, withaccompanying re marks, for the Divine blessing upon Foreign Missions. On. resuming business, its delegates Assembly re ceived the reports from ts delegates to the various bodies with which it has fraternal correspondence. Dr, Adams, delegate to the New Hamp shire Association of Congregational Ministers, forwarded a communication, which was read by the Clerk, stating that in his visit he had found many who were among his earliest and best friends. The New Hampshire -pastors of the Congregational churches were generally men of culture, of generous spirit, and ardent in their piety. Dartmouth College, which, although not sectarian in its character, was mainly under the Congregational care, was in a prosperous condition. There was a de sire on the part of all the ministerial laborers to reciprocate a friendly feeling, and to culti vate fraternal relations. Their churches had been visited by revivals during . the past year,. and one of the most encouraging features of these New Hampshire churches is the fact that many of the young men leave their farms to study for the ministry l and when prepared for the work, appeared in the East ern and Middle States, and in all the large cities of the Union, as well as in missionary fields, and were found to be among the most eminent and efficient workers of the Church. Rev. Daniel March, delegate to the Gene ral Associatiort.of'MassaChusetie, „reported that he had. tireso,ted theChriegatt saluta tions of the Assembly to, the As' iodation of Massachusetts, on the 27 , 1 of June last, and was received with tokens and expressions of Christian cordiality, and that he had appro priately declared the eminent and distinctive doctrines of the Church in carrying forward every department of Christian work, and es pecially with reference to Tutting forth re newed efforts to promote unity of the chur ches,.and the evangelization of our whole country, and that to such sentiments the — Moderator replied in ferini — of — Cordial sym pathy. He, as a delegate, was, charged to Say that the only rivalry which they would attempt with us should be to see whether Presbyterianism or Congregationalism could do most for the good of our common Century and for the glory of our Lord. Dr. Nelson, delegate to the 0. S. Assembly, reported as follows ; ST. LOUIS, May 22, Ifi66. To the General Assent* of the . IVeSigtericeri, Church, sitting in the First _Presbyterian Church, St. Louis: BELOVED BRETHREN : I have the honor and pleasure to report that I have presented to the General Assembly sittingin the Second Church tne commission with which I was honored by our General Assembly of last year, to convey to that body the fraternal salutations of our own. I was received by the Moderator of that body, Rev. Dr. Stanton, with a degree of fraternal kindness quite remarkable, both personally and officially.. I was abundantly satisfied by the reception accorded to me, and I. am sure that the published report of Dr. Stamen's address will abundantly satisfy all my constituents. , I need not speak of the delightful meeting of thetett off.tr, subsequent even ing, to the members of this Assembly who were present, -butt may' be permitted most thankfully to say that it seemed to me that the clock of Presbyterian history then struck, ringing in a new era of peace, and love. Most respectfully, H. A. NELSON. Rev, Henry F. Ray,. delegate horn the General Convention of Vermont, was then presented to the Assembly. He, came as bearer of salutations 'of the Convention, a body nutuberingabout2oo churches, and some 17,000 communicants. They were - with:us in membership in the great °Calvinistic : family; with us in the activity of the missionary spirit, and had given to our Church men not a few, some of them highly etninent—Prof Shedd; for example. . There is," said he, "one more bond between us which I believe must ever unite us, and that is represented by the symbol above your own seat, We . love you, brethren, be: ause , you hive set ' forth unmistakably youespririt as the spirit of liberty, as the spirit of freedom, as a law abiding and government-loving Church, and could we of the,free green M.ountaiti air do - else than love the body planting itself on the ' r Deelaraoou which we have ?heard from you; for the last iew years? We 'Must love you., We hope;to claim your regard in the future. We bid you,, as a Church.-reforming, intelli -gent body, go; forth; -oecupyi as iTtrovidenee shall open to you—we never will envy—we never will-try to sußplant,you it' we can only labor wirlt you, we will almost be content to follow after you, ifl.God. will speed you is the „great work which devolves upon you." The Moderator reSponded to `theaddress in pleasant cud suitable 'terms. The Stated Clerk then stated the contents of a letter from; 'Rev.':Federick Monod, with regard to the uuion of the Evangelical Chur ches of France, from which it appeared that the time of meeting had been changed to October if; ;066 ; a new ,abd important' step had been taken toward the separation between the EvangeliStie and. the, Liberal parties in the Established Prqtestant Char (hes. The meetings had lost their pastoral' and Christian character, and had changed into exciting and unprofitable discussions. They had pronounced their own dissolution by a vote of 162 to 50, after.which 'knew con ference . was . immediately organized, The letter, alter reference to national affairs, closed with' the following sentiment : " G-41 grant Congress, all, beginning ;with the President and Congress, the whldom which is first pure, then peaceful, justice to all„eharity to all, ,and malice to none,, , your, glorious . practiced, "; ;. , ; • ; 001tit.E8PONDMO.E WITS-SCOTLAND. The chief interest of the morning was cen „tred i 4 the reception of Prof. McCosh, and the, opening of a correspondence With the Church from which he came—the Free Church of Scotland. The proceedings began with the reading of the following letter from the General Assembly of that Church. "To the General Assent* of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, N. "DEdit CaursTrAN Thurnnpui: We take advantage of the meeting of= our General Assembly at present convened, to greet you cordially in the name of the -Lord. We feel constrained to do so in consequence of the singularly , momentous_ character of recent events in your country, and of their ruigto rvlnfluenee on your respectiiie Chiirches. , „may be premature .to say much, as ttke echoes of war_have scarce yet died away, and the . future may be, in other Way 8 71149 eventful as these four years of c onflict ; but, , without anticitaiting Providence, we hive a plain. Christian duty to discharge r in consequence of what falls already withirt the province of history. • ” God has assuredly been, speaking toyour country by terrible things in righteousness. The ploughshare of war has gone deep into the soul of your people. You have been long familiar with scenes of bloodshed, such as the world never saw before, and we pray God, if consistent with his holy will, it may never witness again. But, even in this respect, good has come out of evil ; for the agony and ruin of war have opened up to you many new fields of Christian philanthropy. We refer in particular to the work of your Christian Commission,' with its rich provision for the temporal and spiritual wants of your soldiers and sailors ; and we hope that all churches s hall profit by this noble exhibition of Christian love in a singularly arduous and self sacri ficing sphere of labor. " We have special pleasure in referring to the sympathy lately awakened on behalf of America among all classes in Britain, by the assassination of your great and good Presi dent ; and we adore the Most High, who has thus turned one of the blackest crimes of our age into a means of softening down asperities of feeling, of correcting grave misunderstand ings, of fusing the hearts of nations in love, above all, of calling forth in full measure the prayers of Christ's people on this side of the Atlantic on behalf of your sorely-stricken land. We rejoice that your country is to have rest from war, and that the restoration of I peace is to be followed by the abolition of slavery. No words could better, ex _press our views than those of your lamented President, written in April. 1864: 'I claim not to have controlled events, but confe,s plainly that I events have controlled me \ Now, at the end of three years' struggle, the nation's condi tion is not what either, party or any man deviled or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North as well as you tif-the South, shall pay fairly for our oomph.- city in that wrong, impartial history will find therein' new causes to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God.' The divergence of sentiment and action formerly existing between you and lie as to, this question thus ceases, and we give the glory to. Him,. who is righteous in all His ways ant:lll'olnm all His works. As there is really nothing now to prevent a complete and cordial Understand ing between the British and the American Churches, we take the earliest possible op portunity of giving utterance to this convic tion and desire of our hearts. .Our prayers shall rise with yours to the throne of grace in asking for your rulers and your people all heavenly wisdom in dealing with one of the weightiest social problems ever presented to any country for solution. We shall watch with the liveliest interest the future history of the negro race within your borders ; and you have our best wishes for the success of every scheme bearing 'on their temporal or spiritual welfare. We are by no means for getful of our former share of national guilt as to negro slavery, and it would ill become us to judge - you harshly or unadvisedly. But, Hit - ie'righe and-proper that we-should encour age you by our British experience—for the abolition of slavery in our. West India Islands removed, a great stumbling-block out of our ,oath—it led to a marked quickening of the public conscience—it gave our country a far higher Christian place <among the nations, apd-it,enabled all the churches to proclaim with fullness and sincerity the Gospel of sal vation through Him, who came to undo the heavy burdens and to break every yoke. We have uo doubt that your churches will be I ready to follow where Providence now points the way. As the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, we have every cause to reciprocate sentiments of brotherly kindness and charity toward members of the same Presbyterian family with ourselves. We must all feel the necessity for closer fellow ship between churches that have a common language, a common ancestry, a common faith. Presbyterianism would therebybecome vastly more influential for good. would bulk more largely in the eye of Christendom and every section of our ecclesiastical common wealth would get enlargement of heart by partaking of the heritage of truth and grace common to all. We beg to add that the greate.4 advantage would follow from the oc casional visits of accredited deputies from your churches to us, and from us to you. We have much to learn from your varied schemes of Christian usefulness in dealing with a state of society so different from ours; and we know from the testimony of Dr. Duff and many others that in the field of heathen ism there are no missionaries of more truly apostolic' spirit than• those sent forth by the churches of America. You on your part might also find it not unprofitable to study the working of Presbyterianism in Scotland, fragrant as our beloved country is with the memories of the martyrs, and, earnestly con tending, as it still does for the faith once delivered to the saints. We must not forget, however, that there are other churches beyond the circle of Presbyterians, with which we ; 'desire to cultivate a spirit of concord, and from the field of whose experience we seek to gather -like precious fruit. Let us provoke one another to love and to good works. Let usi strive, as in the fire, to ,prevent at any subsequent time the' possibility of estran_ge ment between our respective nations. Let us pray:that the same blessed Spirit, poured .down so largely on your land during the period of your revival, may become the living bond dimity and peace between us. And let us ever realize the solemn fact that, humanly Speaking the Christian interests of the world hang mainly on the efforts put forth by Christ's people in Great Britain and America. " And :now, dear brethren, we beseech the God of all grace to overrule these shakings of the nations for the upbuilding of that king dom which cannot be moved; and we affec tionately commend you to Him who will give strength to His people, and who will bless His people with peace. For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things— to whom be glory forever and 'ever. Amen "Signed in name and by authority of the Free Church of Scotland, at Edinburgh, the thirtieth' day of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred atid sixtY-five, by James Begg, aro., Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Cliurch of Scotland." Dr. Hatfield moved that this communica- Am,be accepted, and that a reponse be pre pared' by a committee appointed by the Moderator, to be sent to the Free Church of Scotland, and that this communication be . printed in the appendix to the 'minutes of :thie Assembly. Adopted. 'Dr. Hatfield then read a communication signed by Rev. Robert Buchanan, D.D., Rev. ,Tames Begg, D.D., H. Wellwood Moncrieff, and others of the Free Church of Scotland, - introducing to American Christians Rev. Dr. McCosh, of Belfast, Ireland. Dr. Hatfield stated that James McCosh, LL.D.,was pre sent, and on his motion ' Dr. McCosh was invited to address the Assembly. The Assembly rose to receive Dr. McCosh as he ascended the platform. His address was marked with deep feeling and earnest ness, and was listened to with profound atten tion and rewat, and greeted with frequent applause. He explained that he did not come officially as a delegate from any churcl.,,- bat, wearied with his writing and his classes, having visited repeatedly the Continent, and not feeling inclined to go there again, he , f e lt a longing to spend his vacation in visitut 2 some g new country; that he might have a i• of the future that is before the vv . e had taken part with this great no° „i on i n it s great straggle. hislittle field of influence, both as an author and speaker , he h a d de FIE AMERICAN PRRKBYTERIAN , THURSDAY, MAY 31, 1666. dared his attachment to the cause, and had never for a moment doubted of our success. He was anxious to see the country engaged in the great work of reconstruction, Such were the motives which induced him to come to this country; but when it became known among his friends that he was about to pro- I ceed to the United States, he received com munication after communication, asking that he might accomplish another end. y The Evangelical Alliance had a meeting for the special purpose, and enjoined upon him to say to American Christians how much it was desired, on account of that Alliance, that the American and British churches should be brought into a more thorough understanding and unity. His friends forwarded to him the letter which had been read. He had been received by the two bodies that have met in this place in a way altogether dispropor tionate to his position as an individual, but nevertheless accepted it all because he knew it 'proceeded from genuine and loving hearts, and because he regarded it as a declaration of respectful feeling towards the British chur ches. He would take care to repeat this to the British churches, and he.knew the gene ral body of them will receive it with joy. He declared that America and Great Britain were bound together by strong bands—were one in race, one in liberty, and one in the love of education,. and especially and above all, one in believing in one God and one Saviour ; that the Presbyterians in both countries were one .in faith, discipline, and polity generally. He referred to the troubles of the Church in Scotland, and to some facts in his own history, illustrating what the churches in Great Britain had to contend with, and passed to the present condition of the churches. The Free Church of Scotland, though not a nu merous body, had contributed for the year ending May Ist, 1865, the sum of .E 350,000 for the support of the Gospel ; had, set going a general sustaining fund for poor congrega tions, a benevolence instituted by Dr. Chal mers, which had been carried on with great vigor and liberality, and to which the church contributed in 1865, £lBO,OOO, and for 22 years ending May, 1865, the total sum of £6,000;000. The Free Church of Scotland had been instrumental itv,bringing about a state of things that looked to the union , of all the churches of like faith and government, not only in the United Kingdom, bu4 r iti the Colonies, and the speaker took the opportuni ty to say that the British churches were most anxious to he in some way offidally connected with the Presbyterian bodies in this country, by having delegates reciprocally accredited to the General Assemblies, who might have a voice on the more important questions of general interest to the church. The Moderator replied in a few words, say ing that at the present he would not attempt to reply to the practical suggestions of Dr. McCosh, but on behalf of the General Assem bly he welcomed him among us, and hoped he would remain during the session of the General Assembly. The suggestion of Dr. MeCosh on the sub. jest of an exchange of delegates, was referred to the Committee (Rev. Dr. A. B. Smith, chairman) having in charge the rahswer to the letter from the Free Church. The remainder of the morning, and the entire afternoon, were taken up with the re port of the Standing Committee (see yester day's proceedikgs) on Church Erection. Ruling Elder Scarritt, of the Presbytery of St. Louis, moved to reconsider the action of the Assembly whereby it voted to accept the report of the committee, and to go into its oonsideration article by article, aid stated that he did so for the purpose of moving the adoption of' the following plan :- 1. To repeal, as to the guidance and con trol of the future operations of the commit tee, all present laws or instructions of the 2. That this committee be the channel through which our denomination may do its work of church erection as fully and finally as it does its home missionary work through its Home Missionary Committee. 3. That this committee may Treely lean and donate its funds for the erection of churches according to its ability, and the need of the churches, making its own rules, only limited as follows ; First, It shall execute its duties, both in respect to its present and future funds, in conformity with the spirit of its trust and the obligations of its charter. Second, It shall not reduce the fund by donations to a less amount than $lOO,OOO. Third, It shall not loan or donate to any one church 'an aggregate sum of more than $3OOO. Fourth, That it shall not charge interest on loans until from and after the maturity of the debt. Fifth, That loans shall not be for a longer term than five yoara, reasonably secured on real estate. 4. That this Assembly appoint a secretary or agent, who shall be to this 1k ork what Dr. Kendall is to the Home Missionary work. Mr_ Scarritt addressed the Assembly at length in regard to the management,of the fund, claiming that the existing plan looked more to the continuance and reservation of the fund than to the building of churches, and illustrating the need of a change in the plan of administering the fund by reference to the congregation of Webster Grove. Was opposed to the adoption of the report of the committee, because it wouldn't build the churches. Dr. Humphrey stated that the committee, in framing the report and recommendation, was in full sympathy witu the last speaker in' the desire to make the utmost amount of money available for the erection of churches, and claimed that those were in the cities could understand the scam: of the case as well as those in the country t'er they were bon tinually receiving appli • • tens for assistance which press upon then the necessity which he has urged today, aid' it certainly is their desire to relieve the people from these in cessant calls, though they would be willing that they should give more than they have been accustomed to give in a desultory way. It had been the desire of the committee throughout to propose and bring forward to the Assembly such a plan as wen!d secure the largest possible amount for the churches, and on such terms as would be most favorable to them. He stated that the plan piked no restriction upon the trustees in loaning any amount whatever to any church, if they con sidered in their judgments as business men that the church could afford to give good security for the money. He explained at length the difficulties that arose from churches contracting loans, both as it regarded the , churches themselves and the fund. Dr. Clarke opposed the plan as recom mended by the committee. lie claimed that this $lOO,OOO should, in the shortest possi- Me time, be put into the form of churches, and not cor4inued in the form of a fund; that the chorales of the East , would respond to all oar, when once this amount was exhaust-. ed; `.,hat of the $5OOO proposed to be ex pended each year, Missouri would receive two anal a half per cent., and asked what kind of r.s provision that was for church erection in tins great State? Proposed that the whole amount should be loaned out to churches in average sums of $lOOO for ten years, which would build at least eighty churches within the next year, and, as the yearly installments became due, and were paid, it would build eight.churehes each year thereafter. The report was advocated- by Judge Wil liams, of Pittsburgh, and optiesed by Mr. Ilebard, of lowa City, and Mr. Tindall, of Washtenaw Presbyteries. Hon. John A. Foot, in few words, referred to the fact that, by the terms of the plan, no change could be made in it except by the vote of two-thirds of all the members on the roll of the General Assembly. One of the most able committees Which our body can furnish, including two eminent jurists, have been employed three days on the subject, and have recommended the utmost enlargement of liberality in the disbursement of the fund which they believe the law, or the purpose of its founders will allow. Under these circum stances there is no hope of getting the requi site vote in favor of any other plan, and after a day or two, it cannot be secured even for this, as there will not be left here two thirds ofi all upon our roll. We must pass this, and do it soon, or go back to the old plan. The debate was here arrested by the hour of adjournment. The Moderator appointed the following as. the Committee of Arrangements, for the next General Assembly; Rev. J. B. Shaw, D.D.. Rev. J. W. Camp bell, Rev. C. P. Bush, and Louis Chapin. SIXTH SAN. WEDNESDAY, May 23 Morning Session. Great interest was excited in the morning prayer-meeting by requests from three different parents, each for a eon in course of education, that he might be graciously prepared for, and inclined toward, the ministry of the Gospel ; also the request of an aged father, a member of the Assembly, for the - conversion of a son now in Congress. Report of the Standing Committee of the Gen eral Assembly, of 1866, on Church Erection. By the twelfth annual report of the Trustees of the Assembly's Church Erection Fund, it is painfully apparent that this fund is but imper fectly accomplishing its original design. The amount of the fund in 1856 was $lOO,OOO. Now, after ten years' use, it has increased' to $127,- 000, $BO,OOO of which, at least, remains in the hart& of the Board; subject to the call of the churches_ Year by year, the applications for aid became fewer. But $2,755 was taken from the treasury last year in the form of loans; and but $4OO in the form of donations. Meanwhile thezeceipts from the churches, on account of loans, donations, and interest, have been over $7,000, which addeAto the interest accruing on the fund itself—neirly ,Jooo—constitute an actual increase of the unemployed fund, after deducting expenses, &c., of abbut $7,000: The reason of this is not that the aid which might be afforded by this fund is undesired. The more wealthy churches in all our large centres have been besieged with applications for assistance in church building, as pertina ciously as if there was no fund for that purpose in existence. Large amounts have been given in answer to such appeals by the very churches which originally contributed' to the now ne glected treasury, from which it was expected all feeble churches would draw. So pressing, in fact, have . been the applications,.that it is manifest that the whole fund, if accessible on terms favorable to the churches, would soon be completely absorbed. The reason of such neglect must be looked for in the practical working of the plan on which the fund has been administered: The plan was most carefully devised. It embodied the wisdom of some of the most eminent men in our Church. For the period when it was; adopted it was most excellent. But since its adoption a great change has taken place in our position and circumstances. The last ten years have been revolutionary. The nation has trem bled under the shock of war. We have passed through financial embarrassments and borne the brunt of a struggle which has cost our chuiches some of their choicest blood. Debts incurred for the erection of houses of worship have become burdensome. The churches have in many instances been depressed by the very means through which to gain strength. Obli gations to the General Assembly have often been borne, under the disadvantage of contrasts drawn between the policy, upon which our plan of church erection, and that of some of our sis ter denominations, is based. The result has been that the fund has fallen into disfavor. churches needing assistance have been advised, in some cases, by Synodical or Presbyterial action, not to encumber themselves with loans such as others bad found it so unpleasant to bear and so difficult to pay. At the same time, the cost of building has so enormously increased that $2OO form but a comparatively insignificant item in the expense of constructing an ordinary house of worship— worth applying for, indeed, but not desired tinder the conditions upon which it was to be obtained. There is, therefore, an imperative call for a modification of the plan of administering our church erection fund, and this call becomes the more imperative when we consider that the rapid extension of the lines of traffic has made cities of villages, and villages of - hamlets. Where, ten years since, it was supposed a few 'hundred dollars would_ suffice for the wants of the people, us many thousand dollars are now found to be insufficient. An almost unantici pated necessity has arisen to establish churches at key-points, and t, provide them with com modious and attractive sanctuaries. The spirit of the times has, changed. A new impulse, felt by all denominations, has been given to domestic missions. Looking toward the glow ing future of our country, we are incited to new exertions for its evangelization. Among the ruling ideas of the. day this is.prominent— that to provide a church edifice is almost as important as to provide a missionary, and that the work of church erection must be carried forward upon, the same enlarged and liberal scale which is adopted for the support of min isters of the Gospel. Were the ideas false one, to resist it would be like stemming the currents of the Mississippi in a flood but your Commit tee believe it to involve a true principle, though it, like all other running ideas, is liable to un natural freshets. This Assembly has assumed the work of do- Mestic missions, as it had not when its church erection fund was established. Then that work was committed to the American Home Mission ary Society. Now that we have entered this field side by side with our sister denominations, we must carry on our work with an energy and a liber ality like theirs. In view of these considerations, your Com mittee believe that could the wholefund be im mediately scattered among our feeble churches, in the form of donations, without interest or return of any kind, while the churches aided should remain, in our connection, the effect would be most happy. This we belive to be desired by many on the floor of this Assembly. Were such a course possible we should favor it. But a careful examination of the whole case, has brought your Committee to the stub born conclusion ' so often reached by others who have surveyed the same ground, that such a disposition of the fund was rendered impossi ble by the very terms on which it was collected. It was to be a permanent fund. To destroy its permanency would be a breach of trust which might and which ought to be legally resisted. The legal opinions submitted to the Assembly by the Board of .Trustees, place this position beyond reasonable dispute. The question therefore is, how the mode of administering the fund shall be so changed as to make it most useful to the churches. After mature deliberation your Committee recom mend the abandonment of •the system of loans and the adoption of that of donations upon the following plan, viz. : 1. That the whole of the funds now i n th e hands of the Board, together with such receipts as may return in fulfilment of pledges from the churches already aided by loans and donations, and together with whatever may, be hereafter contribUted to the fund, be securely and per mariently invested. 2. That the accruing interest be annually distributed by the Board on proper conditions and in proper proportions, to churches apply. ing therefor, in the form of donations without interest and without pledge of return, except in case the church or congregation thus assisted 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 I house of worship. As supplementary to this, your Committee recommend that a collection be taken annually 1 by all our churches, to be forwarded to the Treasurer of the Board, to be \used by them in the same manner as the accruing interest of the fund. The necessary amendments of the Assembly's plan, together with all essential details, are sub mitted herewith. It is believed that in these changes no legal principle is sacrificed and that the utmost practical efficiency in the use of the fund is secured. Your Committee' cannot but regard it as a providential indication of the wisdom of these proposed changes that they have been suggest ed to several different minds without concert, and that they have been regarded with favor before this by those high in position in our Church, atl will be seen by reference to the re port of the special committee to whom the whole subject was referred by the Assembly of 1863. Your Committee would also recommend to the Assembly to consider the expediency of appointing a General Secretary of the Board, whose duty it shall be to discharge the functions in this Board which are discharged in the Committee of Home Missions by its Secretary. It becomes our duty to nominate three Trus tees to fill the places of Rev. J. Few Smith, D.D,, Rev. Samuel D. Burchard, D.D. and William A. Booth, Esq, whose term of office is soon to expire. We cordially recommend that the same gentlemen be reappointed. A few overtures have been referred to the Committee upon the consideration of which we ask further time. All of which is respectfully submitted. Z. M. HUMPHREY, Chairman. ST. Louis, May 21, 1866. Rev. Van Nest called for a division of the report in relation to the supplementary clause of the report, which was not agreed to. Rev. Win. Niles deprecated the slighting allusion which had been made to the fund yes terday. It had cost much sacrifice and great labor, and was the result of large benevolence, and lied done much for the prosperity of the Church. It was a noble fund in its origin,. and had been nobly administered upon the princi ples on which it was established. Although he believed that it was a fund which should be given away, yet they met with this particular difficulty—it was a permanent fund and could only lie loaned„. The plans of other churches in the huid`wettbut the resultof this fund, and they had follow.ilfi in the, course pursued by this branch of the church, although in a somewhat different'way. The fund sintelts commence ment had aided many churches, andlone.much good. It was collected at great sacrifice. Clurches had given to it with the earnest de sire which characterized the Church of Christ— not only the churches that.were wealthy bat the churches that were in poverty. This fund of $lOO,OOO was a good thing to have about, and if we desired to make some arrangement one of these days it would be a very good asset to put in; but after all the fund is not . accomplishing what it was desired to accomplish. Circum stances have changed, and it is desirable that a great deal more money should be expended by oar churches in building sanctuaries. New, the question is, what will you do with this fund? The objections to the plan are three-fold. First, there was the old idea of loan—it was all loan and no gift—and was becoming more distaste ful to many of the churches. Another objec tion was the smallness of the gift, donation or loan. This, he was glad to say, the committee proposed to modify, but, after all, it resolved itself into that one great objection, that' of a loan. The committee had three distinct pro positions before them. First, to give the whole fund away, but distinguished legal talent had been consulted and had said this could not be done. One said it could be done ; a second said it could be done; a third said if it was given away the trustees would be liable for the fund, and applications would Ve made before the Courts for an injunction ; so, no matter how much the Assembly might desire to give the whole fund away, they could not do it. The next plan presented was to enlarge the old plan, but still this was a system of loaning on an en larged scale. Many churches would not touch it no matter how large tt e amount, if they were obliged to give security for its return. A gen tleman in the Synod of Missouri said, they had come to the conclusion that what they gave should be given as a gift. There was loud and long call for a radical change in the plan, and it would not benefit the Western churches un less there was a radical change. By the opera-- ation of the old plan, churches were estranged instead of their h.earts being drawn towards us, and it was because of this system of loaning, which had proved a failure. By the operation of the plan, there was presented the spectacle of the whole church selling one of its own indi vidual churches for the purpose of keeping up a fund. Again, if the Assembly by a unani mous vote agreed to lend all of the $,100,000 - to the churches, they could not do it for they were restrained by the Courts. The plan proposed was siiply . a plan of giving, and he was in favor of giving all that the law would let us give, and churches should not expect to receive any more than the law would let us give. I there fore come back upon the plan of the committee; to give away the interest on the $lOO,OOO. If some individual was to rise up and give us the interest on $lOO,OOO, how many would rise up in their places and thank him for doing so? Now this is the money of the church. Let us not divide it up into 21 per cent. for the Synod of Missouri, for the Board can if they see fit, give it to any one of the churches in Missouri. The Synods of New York and Pennsylvania do not want their money, but the old plan or any enlargement of the old plan is a failure. The only practical alternative is to give away all that we have a right to give, and not to loan it, and this interest on this $lOO,OOO is all that can be given away without going into a legal contest, which would perhaps, cost us a great deal more than the interest. We have now a nest egg of say $BOOO to $lO,OOO to begin with. Dr. Humphreys stated that there was about $lOOO not yet paid into the permanent fund, which might be appropriated in this way. Dr. Parsons inquired whether it was not com petent to loan the whole fund of $lOO,OOO or $127,000 upon terms of WO or $2OO to each church. Mr. Moderator—Only in accordance with the Plan- Mr. Niles—We cannot donate or loan more than one-fourth of it at one time, which is, ac cording to the meaning of the plan, a loan in reality- I propose to give away what we can legally give whether it is one cent or $lO,OOO. So far as the principle is concerned it is essen tial for carrying on our enterprise and for the sacred interest of the Church of Christ L if we wish to keep pace with other churches. It is of vast importance that this fund be supplemented. When we send our missionaries out, we must send them money enough to build churches, and we must appoint a secretary to go to the churches, and plead with them to raise money to assist these men, in raising churches, and, in this way, we shall have a mighty fund increasing with the necessity of the case. When this fund is exhausted, then wilt come in applications in distressing language, asking that aid may be afforded, and then will be the opportunity for the secretary to go before the churches with these twenty-five applications written in this distress ing language, and say to them, we want money to build these church% and we want you to give us $40,000 or $50,000 or a $lOO,OOO to assist these feeble churches of this land in bnild ing. a house of worship, and I tell you the churches will give it until we shall have five millions of money, the interest of which shall be expended in building churches. The Me thodists, Old School Presbyterians and Congre gationalists are moving in this matter, and we must be up and doing. If we adopt this plan, it will accomplish the work as well as it is pos- sible for us to accomplish it. If you do not adopt the plan proposed there will be nothing done for another year—no churches built and no applications for money, and if there was, they probably would not be granted. Hon. John A. Foot—l move that at half-past 11 o'clock the Assembly proceed to take a vote upon the report of the committee. The motion was agreed to. Dr. Knox—l move that all speeches up to that time be limited to five minutes. The motion of Dr. Knox was also agreed to. Mr. Van Nest offered the following substi tute : Ist, Resolved, That the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, sitting in the First Presbyterian Church of St. Louis, in May, 1866, do hereby, enjoin upon the Presbyteries under its care, or within its jurisdiction, at their first meeting respectively after this injunc tion shall reach them, to answer the following inquiry : Shall the General Assembly make ap plication to the Legislature of the State of New York for a repeal or such a modification of the charter of the church erection fund as that the fund can be donated to the feeble churches belonging to it, without bond or mort gage, for the purpose of erecting houses of worship, on the express condition that, as soon as in the Providence of God they are able to do so, they shall return it to the treasury of the church for a similar use in other cases. 2d. Resolved, That the General Assembly, at this session ' appoint a committee, to be located in New York, with the Stated Clerk of the As sembly as its chairman, whose duty it shall be, as soon as it is practicable, after three-fourths of the Presbyteries belonging to this Assembly shall officially notify the Stated Clerk of the Assambly that they respectively have affirma tively replied to the above injunction of the Assembly, to make the aforesaid application to the Legislature of the State of New York for aforesaid purpose 2d. Resolved, That the above committee shall report to the General Assembly, to meet at the Brick Church in the city of Rochester, on the third Thursday of May, 1867. Judge Williams inquired whether a substi tute was in order at this time when the Assembly had agreed to take a vote at a certain time. Mr. Moderator—A motion to substitute is in order at any time. Judge Allison—The substitute is wholly im practicable. The General Assembly, the Fret byteries, or the State of New York through its Legislature has no power to touch that fund or to divert it from the purpose for which it was created. If the Legislature of the State of New York was to pass a law it would be of no effect, because it would impair a trust for a special purpose. Mr. Van Nest—My object was to bring it be fore the courts, for we will never get through it until it is legally decided. • Dr. Clark—l rise to a point of order. The substitute proposes to do what is unlawful or impossible. It is therefore certainly out of order. Mr.- Benedict—The only point is that of trust. You accepted the trust, and the trust still re mains, and it throws it back upon the Assem bly, whether haviag . aecepted that trust, they will violate every "pnneiple of honor, honesty, and Christian obbgationv disregarding that trust upon which thii money was committed to their hands. You have - the phYsical power to do this but you may be met by mj_unctions from the courts of every State in the Union, because there are donations from every State in the Union. The act as passed by the Legislature of New York only gave legal existence to the Board of Trustees, and you are still bound to protect that trust, and never to give a dollar away ex cept under the seventh section or resolution as published in the digest, which provides for the manner in which the money shall be distributed. Dr. Clarke suggested that the resolutions be read. Mr. Benedict then read the resolutions found in the digest as part. of the proceedings of the General Assembly of 1853. The seventh resolution which governs the distribution of funds, is as follows: Resolved, Each Synod, through its Commit tee on Church Erection, of which the Stated Clerk of the Synod shall be ex officio Secretary, shall draw on the Church Erection Committee for such portion of the fund as has been alloted to it, in such sums as it shall, from time to time, loan or donate to particular within its boudds. But no draft shall be made for any portion of the fund alloted to it, until where the money is loaned each particular loan shall have been definitely agreed upon, and sufficient security in bond and mortgage or personal note shall have been duly executed and placed in the hands of Stated Clerk of said Synod, who shall with his draft transmit a statement of the loan thus made, and the security taken; nor shall any draft be made until such accompany ing statement, satisfactory to the committee, shall have been received ; 'Provided, That the Church Extension Com mittee of each Synod, when in their estimation the circumstances of the case demand it, may also donate to feeble churches within their bounds, or remit on previous loans, such sums as they shall judge proper ; not to exceed, however in the aggregate, a sum equal to one fourth part of that amount appropriated to said Synod for the current year. And the Church Erection Committee shall pay the drafts for such donations in the same manner as for the loans above authorized_ All moneys thus do• skated or remitted to be secured on the house, in case of a change in the ecclesiastical relations of the church thus aided. Provided further, That all churches to whom moneys are thus donated or remitted shall take an annual collection in behalf of the church erection fund, at least until they shall have thus repayed the amount which was granted them. No interest shall ever be demanded for any moneys loaned to congregations from this fund until by the terms of the loan, the principal has become due. The vote was taken on Mr. Van Nest's sub stitute, and it was declared lost. Rev. Mr. Fowler—The West are interested in this matter , _ and it is the best thing we can do to adopt the report of the committee. The committee looked into this matter considerately and dispassionately, let us therefore respond to their judgment. if we can only give away the interest let us do that, and then rally around the the next proposition which is to raise $50.0 00 , or $lOO,OOO, if they ask it. My brother says he cannot go to the rich men of his congrega tion for money when we have a fund on baud. The Tract Society had a fund of $lBO,OOO, yet thousands of dollars are given away every year for this purpose. Dr. Clarke offered the following amendment to article 14 of the report of the permanent committee: The Board shall not in any case loan or do- - nate any portion of the fund to any congrega tion, unless such congregation own, in fee simple and free from all legal incumbrance, the lot on which their house of worship is situated, or on which they propose to build -, nor shall any loan or donation be made for the payment of any debt, except that which may have been contracted within one year previous in erecting a house of worship. The amount loaned to any congregation shall never be more than one-third of the amount contributed for the house and lot, nor shall the amount given to any congregation exceed one fourth of the amount contributed for their house and lot; nor shall such a loan and dona tion be made to the same congregation. The donations within the boundaries of any Synod shall never be more than one-fourth of the amount appropriated to that Synod. Judge Allison approved the report. He desired to say to the churches we will give you what we can, bat we don't want to pat you under bonds. We don't want to encourage yon to build houses of worship and then, if you can't pay back the money loaned you, to send the sheriff to sell your house. We don't want to sacrifice the child we have nearished in that way, or to present the spectacle to other churches that a _particular church is a repudi ating church. bie thought, if the 'Board of Trustees did their duty and were faithful to
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