I he ii~ii d course of Classical studies, and permitted them to except to the doctrine of the divine decrees as in- volving the idea of Fatalism. In October, 1802, the Presbytery was divided, rnd the Presbvterv of Cum-
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES 539 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
berland was formed, covering the region just named. In April, 1803. the new Presbytery met, and ordained two of the licentiates — Finis Ewing (who had for- merly been an elder) and Samuel King— and licensed other persons. In 1805, the synod, finding complaints laid before them of irregularity on the part of the Pres- bytery, appointed a commission often ministers and six elders, clothed with full synodical powers, to visit this remote region and investigate the whole matter. Ac- cordingly the commission, when convened, summoned the Presbytery and the irregularly licensed or ordained persons, and endeavored to induce the latter to submit to an examination. This, with the sanction of the Pres- bytery, they refused; whereupon the commission pro- hibited them from preaching or administering ordi- nances in virtue of any authority derived from Cumber- land Presbytery until they should submit. It was af- terwards contended that, as the authority to preach had been originally conferred by the Presbytery of Transyl- vania, this prohibition was technically powerless in the case. It may also be observed that it seems now gen- erally agreed by writers on both sides that the main ob- jection was not to the illiterate character of the licen- tiates, but to their alleged unsoundness in doctrine. The Revival members (as they were called) of the Cum- berland Presbytery after this met as a council and ab- stained from presbyterial acts. They memorialized the General Assembh, but in vain. The assembly sustained the synod, and exhorted the recusants to submit and act regularly. The synod, being directed to review their proceedings, complied, and on review confirmed all that had been done, and further dissolved the Cumberland Presbytery and re-annexed its members to the Presby- tery of Transylvania. The council made an ineffectual effort to bring about a reconciliation, and offered to sub- mit the licentiates to an examination; but as they re- quired that all should be received in a body, the pro- posal was not accepted by the synod. On Feb. 4, 1810, Finis Ewing and Samuel King (ordained ministers, but silenced by the commission), and Samuel M'Adow, an aged minister, met and organized themselves into a presbytery under the name of the Cumberland Presby- tery. In April following the Presbytery of Transyl- vania suspended Mr. M'Adow for his schismatical con- duct.
The progress of the new body was rapid. In three years a synod was necessary, with 3 presbyteries and 60 congregations, and in 1829 a General Assembly was con- stituted. The statistics of 1859 reported in the connec- tion 9(5 presbyteries, 927 ministers, 1188 churches, 82,158 communicants, and 24 educational institutions. In 1814 the synod published an edition of the Westminster Con- fession and Catechisms, altered to suit their system, which is understood to be an attempt to steer between Calvinism and Arminianism. It rejects eternal reproba- tion,limited atonement, and special grace, teaching that the atonement was made for all mankind, and that the operation of the Spirit is coextensive with the atone- ment. Other points of Calvinism, as the necessity of the Spirit's work in regeneration and the perseverance of the saints, are retained. The Cumberland Presby- terians are warm advocates of revivals and camp-meet- ings.
As an evidence of the altered state of feeling towards this body of Christians as contrasted with the deliver- ance of the General Assembly of 1814— to the effect that they could be treated with not as a body, but only as individuals— it. may be added that first the New-School General Assembly entered into correspondence with the Cumberland Presbyterian General Assembly, and in 1800 the Old-School Assembly also took this step. The Cumberland Presbyterians have increased very rapidly. The minutes of the forty-sixth General Assembly, 1876. show 26 synods, including nearly 125 presbyteries, ex- tending over the territory between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, and reaching from the Appalachian Mountains, on the east, to the Pacific Ocean, on the west.
The following statistical summary is approximately cor- rect: Ministers, 1275; licentiates, 280 ; candidates, 220; congregations, 2000; elders, 6750; deacons, 2000; total communicants, 100,000; persons in the Sabbath-schools, 55,000; value of church property, $2,250,000; contrib- uted during the year, #350,000. The following are the principal institutions of learning under the control of this Church: Cumberland College (Princeton, Ky., founded in 1829, discontinued in 1861), Cumberland University (Lebanon, Tenn., founded in 1812. which has the leading law-school in the South), Bethel College (M'Kenzie, Tenn., 1847), Wavnesburg College (Wavnes- burg, Pa., 1850), M'Gee College (College Mound," Mo., 1853, now suspended), Lincoln University (Lincoln. 111., 1866), Trinity University (Tehuacana, Texas. 1876), Cane Hill College, Boonsborough, Ark., 1852). The Gen- eral Assembly, in 1876, approved the establishment of a Union Medical College, in connection with the three universities of the Church : namely, Cumberland, Lin- coln, and Trinity. It is to be located at St. Louis, or some other large city. Wavnesburg. Lincoln, and Trin- ity admit young ladies on equal terms with young men. There are also several institutions exclusively for girls, owned by, or under the patronage of, the Church.
The Cu/ored Cumberland Presbyterian Church has been formed by the amicable separation of colored mem- bers from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and their organization into an independent body. The first number of their newspaper organ, The Banner of Light, was published in September, 1876. It stated that the number of members of the Colored Cumberland Presby- terian Church in the states of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky was, in May, 1874, 3925; that the number of ministers at that time was seventeen ; and that the value of church prop- erty was $12,550. Since that time the Presbytery of Missouri had added 240 members, and the same presby- tery had raised $529.25 in 1874. Later reports than for 1874 had not been received from the other states.