the city of Philadelphia, now estimated to be worth
more than $100, Under their charge has been
placed the Ministerial Relief Fund, managed by an ex- ecutive committee which commenced its operations i,, 1864. In 1869 they reported $13,465 received from or- dinary sources, and $8200 as a special donation towards a permanent fund: also •-".' disabled ministers, 83 wid- ows, and four families of orphans aided. The average age of the ministers was 76 years, and the time of their ministry 10 years. The Assembly sustained also a Per- manent ( 'oiuuiit I i Foreign Missions, whose functions
were nol the raising and distributing of funds or the conducting of missions, bul the supervising of the work and reporting the results to the Assembly. From their report in 1869 it appears that contributions for that year to the American Board were, in money, about $93,643, and in laborers 71 viz. 52 male and 19 female missionaries, in L867 the contributions were 8110,725; in 1868, $110,602.
The beginning of a theological school for the educa- tion of ministers for the Germans, in which instruction is to be given both in German and English, has been made at Bloomfield, X. .1.. with encouraging sue ess. The periodical literature of the New-School Church de- serves honorable mention. Besides other local papers, the American Presbyterian, at Philadelphia, has shown a warm zeal for Church interests, and the New York Evangelist has done excellent serviee. Much credit is due to the Presbyterian Reporter, a monthly published at Alton. 111., for the ability and faithfulness with which it served the interests of the Church in the North-west. During the ten critical years from 1852 to 1862, the Presbyterian Quarterly Review, ably conducted by an .association of ministers in Philadelphia, defended the Church's cause and was an honor to Christian intelli- gence. The American Theological Review, founded in 1859 on a basis not distinctly denominational, united with the Presbyterian Review in 1863, combining the names and objects of both, under the charge of the late Prof. II. 15. Smith, its editor from the beginning. It is now merged in the Pi-inceton Review, published since 1878 in New York City.
Prior to the separation of the Church in 1 s:>8, a se- cession had taken place from it in Kentucky , 1810), in consequence of a dispute between the Presbyter) of Cumberland, in that state, and the Kentucky Synod of the Presbyterian church in America, concerning the ordination of persons who had not passed through the usual educational curriculum, bul whose services the
Presbytery regarded as demanded for the ministry by
i lie exigencies of the t imes. In doctrine this branch of the Church does not very materially differ from the New-School Presbyterian Church, bul its symbols of faith are a modification of the Westminster Confession of Faith. It still exists as a separate organization. (See No. li below.)
In 1858 the New School experienced a defection of its Southern adherents. In 1857 the commissioners from the Southern section, who had attended the Assembly at Cleveland, O., proposed to withdraw and constitute the United Synod. This was organized at Knoxville. Teim.. April -J. 1858. In connection with the synod
were over 100 ministers and about 200 churches, widely scattered over the Southern Slates. This body contin- ued a separate organization until Aug. 24, 1864, when it was merged in the General Assembly formed by South- ern ministers and churches previously in the < lid-School connection. In 1861 the Old School suffered a like de- tection by the outbreak of the civil war. The entire
Southern body of Old-School Presbyterians, aggrieved by the Assembly's resolution on the state of the coun- try, withdrew their connection and united to the organ- ization of .a "General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in the Confederate States of America," Dec 4, 1861, at Vugnsta, Ga. The Second Assembly convened at Montgomery, Ala.. May 1. 1862, since which time tic nioi tings ol the Assembly have been annually held
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES 5:
contemporaneously with those of the Northern assem- blies. In 1876 fraternal relations were sought for the first time between the two bodies. (See No. 17 below.) Presbyterianism has never prevailed extensively in New England; but it has had such a distinct and in- dependent existence therefrom a very early period that we speak of it here by itself. The French Church in Boston, formed of Huguenots about 1C87, was the first Church organized on a Presbyterian basis, but was con- tinued no longer than while its service was conducted in the French language. The first Presbyterian organ- ization in New England of any permanence dates back to about the year 1718, when a large number of Presby- terians, with four ministers, emigrated to this country from the north of Ireland. For some time, in cases of difficulty, the ministers and elders were wont to assem- ble informally, and hold what might be called pro re nata meetings; and where they were unable to reach a satisfactory result, they sometimes asked advice of the Synod of Ireland. On April 1G, 1745, the Rev. Messrs. John Morehead, of Boston ; David M^iregor, of London- derry, N. H.; and Ralph Abercrombie, of Pelham, with Messrs. James M'Keen, Alexander Conkey, and James Hughes, met in Londonderry, and "constituted them- selves into a presbytery, to act, as far as their present circumstances will permit them, according to the Word of God and the constitution of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, agreeing to that, perfect rule." The body was called the Boston Presbytery, and met, according to adjournment, in that town Aug. 13, 1745. From the close of the year 1754 till October, 1770, there is a chasm in the records; but at the last -mentioned period the Presbytery consisted of twelve congregations and as many ministers. At a meeting held in Seabrook, N. II., on May 31, 1775, the Presbytery resolved to divide it- self into three distinct bodies, viz., the presbyteries of Salem, of Londonderry, and of Palmer : these were then formed into the Synod of New England, which held its first meeting at Londonderry Sept. 4, 1776. At Booth- bay, Me., on June 27, 1771, a new presbytery was erect- ed called the Presbytery of the Eastward, consisting of three ministers and four ruling elders, representing four churches. It had no connection with the Boston Pres- bytery, and its origin is said to have been in some way connected with the removal of the Kev. John Murray to Boothbay. It never exhibited on its roll more than eight ministers. Its last recorded adjournment now known was to meet at New Boston, N. H., on the first Wednesday of October, 1792. The only relic of this presbytery known to exist is a curious volume printed in 1783, with the following title: Bath-KoL A Voice from the Wilderness. Being an /nimble Attempt to sup- port the sinking Truths of God against some of the prin- cipal Errors raging at this time. Or a joint Testimony to some of the Grand Articles of the Christian Religion. judiciously delivered to the Churches under their care. By the First Presbytery of the Eastward. In Septem- ber, 1782, the Synod of New England, finding their numbers considerably reduced in consequence of exist- ing difficulties, agreed to dissolve and form themselves into the Presbytery of Salem. For two succeeding years this Presbytery met regularly in Massachusetts proper, but after this its meetings were held in the district of Maine. Its last meeting was held at Gray Sept. 14, 1791. The Third Associate Reformed Presbytery, after- wards called the Associate Reformed Presbytery of Lon- donderry, was formed in Philadelphia Oct. 31, 1782. and held its first meeting at Londonderry on Feb. 11, 1783. It ceased to belong to its original denomination in 1802, and was thereafter an independent presbytery till 1809, when it was received into the Synod of Albany, and has since continued under the name of the Presbytery of Londonderry. The Presbytery of Newburyport was formed by the concurrent action of the Presbytery of Londonderry and the Synod of Albany. It held its first session in Boston on Oct. 27, 1826," and its last on Oct. 20, 1847. when it became reunited to the Presbytery