THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
the influence of moderatism (see above, I., 2). A congregation of Seceders was formed in 1741 and in time there came to be a Secession Synod as well as a Synod of Ulster (sec below, 3). The ministers of Secession congregations also received a Regiuvi donum grant from the government. About 1825 some of the ministers of the Synod of Ulster were known to hold Arian views and there was apprehension of the spread of these views. The Rev. Henry Cooke championed the cause of orthodoxy and under his leadership the Synod of Ulster, by an overwhelming majority, declared in favor of the doctrine of the Trinity. In 1829 seventeen ministers withdrew from the synod and subsequently formed The Remonstrant Synod of Ulster. This paved the way for the union of the two orthodox synods. The Synod of Ulster with 292 congregations and the Secession Synod with 1-11 congregations united in 1840 and formed the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
It is worthy of note that there were Presbyterians in the south of Ireland before the time of the Ulster Plantation. The Rev. Walter Travers, first prQvost of Trinity College, Dublin, appointed in 1594, was a Presbyterian minister. Its first two elected fellows — James Hamilton, afterward Lord Claneboy, and James Fullerton — were also Presbyterians. The Presbyterians in the south of Ireland outside the Synod of Ulster and the Secession Synod belonged to the Southern Association which in 1809 became the Synod of Munster. In 1840 the orthodox members of this synod withdrew and formed themselves into the Presbytery of Munster, and this presbytery joined the general assembly in 1854.
Since the formation of the general assembly the church has made continuous progress, notwithstanding the heavy drain which emigration has made on its membership. In 1869 the Regium donum which amounted to £69. 4s. 8d. per annum for each minister was abolished by the Irish Church Act, but vested interests were respected and the ministers of that time commuted in the interests of the church with the result that a sum of almost £600,- 000 was received into the church treasury for investment, and the annual income arising therefrom together with the Sustentation-Fund contributions of the people is sufficient to give every minister of a congregation a sum of about £80 per annum. The church reports 657 ministers, 568 congregations, about 106,000 communicants, 1,048 Sunday-schools with 8,240 teachers and 94,735 scholars; two colleges (Belfast and Londonderry) with 15 professors; 26 ministerial, 6 medical, 22 zenana, and 5 lay missionaries in the foreign field; 3 ministerial and C female missionaries in connection with the Jewish mission in Hamburg and Damascus; and one ministerial missionary in Spain. The Presbyterian Orphan Society has invested funds amounting to £114,000 and an annual income of over £17,000. The Ministers' Orphan Society has invested funds amounting to more than £18,000 and an annual income of over £900. The Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund has invested funds amounting to £25,000 and an annual income of about £1,000. An Old Age
Fund has been established and its yearly income is about £6,000. There are three funds for widows of ministers — the Secession Widows' Fund paying an annuity of £62, the Southern Association Widows' Fund paying an annuity of £60, and the Synod of Ulster Widows' Fund paying an annuity of £44. The total income of the church from all sources for the year 1907-1908 was £266,000.
W. J. Lowe.
2. Reformed Presbyterian or Covenanting Church of Ireland: This church traces its origin to the Covenanters (q.v.) of Scotland. Some of these who had fled from persecution in Scotland settled in the northeast part of the island, and were the founders of the Covenanting Church in Ireland. They had occasional visits from ministers of their native land; but these were few and far between. For fully forty years a separate existence was maintained by the " Society people," as the Covenanters were called, without the aid of a minister, by means of fellowship meetings. A presbytery was organized in 1792, and a synod, with twelve ministers, in 1811. The year 1840 witnessed the withdrawal of a number of congregations and ministers through a controversy regarding the power of the civil ruler. Recently some of these congregations have returned, and some have joined the Presbyterian Church of Ireland. At present there are thirty-six congregations in four presbyteries, thirty-two ministers, and over 3,900 members connected with the synod. With the exception of one in Liverpool, these congregations are all in the province of Ulster. The Standards of the church are the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, together with the Testimony, in which the church's distinctive position is clearly defined. In this latter is set forth the duty of covenanting; with the continuing obligations of the National Covenant and Solemn League and Covenant (see Covenanters). The Reformed Presbyterian Church uses only the book of Psalms without any instrumental accompaniment in the service of praise; and the office-bearers and members refuse to take the parliamentary oath, or to vote at parliamentary elections. No one engaged in the manufacture or sale of intoxicating drink is admitted to her communion, nor are members of secret oathbound societies.
There are two foreign mission stations — Antioch and Alexandretta — in Syria, with two ordained and three female missionaries and fifteen native helpers; a colonial mission in Geelong, Australia; and an Irish mission with two colporteurs disseminating the Scripture and other religious books chiefly among Roman Catholics. There is a Theological Hall in Belfast with three professors, where students are trained for the ministry. The course consists of three sessions of five months each. Students are required to have a degree in arts before being admitted to the Hall. The church has a Congregational Aid Fund, the object of which is to assist weaker congregations; an Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund, from which retired ministers have been receiving £75 per annum; a Ministers' Widows' and Orphans' Fund, and a recently inaugurated General Widows' and Orphans Fund. None of the congregations are large, and