ACTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

We give below extracts from the report of the Standing Committee-The recommendations were unanimously adopted.

GENERAL ASPECT OF THE WORK.

Among the agencies which the Church employs for extending the Kingdom of Christ, few are more vitally related to its interests than the Board whose work we are called to review. It is the right arm of all successful Home Missionary efforts; and upon its efficient administration the aggressive work of the Church-largely depends. The visible church edifice is an important factor in developing the invisible Church life; and more than it has hitherto done, does the Presbyterian Church need to emphasize and enlarge this department of Christian service.

Like every other phase of aggressive Christian activity, the work of the Board is constantly increasing. Urgent appeals for aid come to it from all quarters. Wherever a new church is organized a new house of worship is needed, and since most of these new churches are in comparatively destitute localities, help in rearing their new houses of worship is an imperative necessity. During the past year formal applications have been received for aid in erecting 171 churches and 53 manses, the aggregate sum asked for having been $97,240 for church buildings, and $21,985 for manses, a total of $119,225. Adding to these the number of informal requests preferred, most of which will eventuate in formal appropriations, the number of congregations desiring aid in the erection of churches and manses would be scarcely less than 300 and the sum required to meet the emergency is fully $150,000.

In response to these applications, aid has been granted during the year to 163 churches in the erection of church buildings, and to forty-four churches in the erection of manses, the sum of $83,369 having been given to the

former, and the sum of $16,425 having been appropriated to the latter. The number of churches reached in all departments of the work has been two hundred and fifty-two, and the aggregate amount placed for their aid $106,242. One hundred and sixty-four churches and manses have been completed without debt during the year through the aid of the Board, aggregating in value, nearly $400,000. These appropriations, moreover, have been scattered over twenty-four Synods, ninety-five Presbyteries, and thirty-two States and Territories.

CONTRIBUTIONS INSUFFICIENT.

It is indeed gratifying to note the fact that one hundred and fifty-five churches more than last year have contributed this year to the treasury of the Board; but out of our six thousand nine hundred and ninety-two congregations three thousand six hundred and fifteen have given nothing during the past twelve months in behalf of this worthy object. This failure of more than one half of our churches to contribute even a small amount to the funds of the Board is absolutely unwarrantable, and deserves the censure of the General Assembly. With rare exceptions all these churches could have given something; and the contribution of even a single dollar on the part of each of them would have enabled the Board to assist several needy enterprises which have now been compelled to suffer. Far-reaching in their results are these failures of individual churches to discharge the duties which God and the Church have devolved upon them.

Closely allied to this cause of decreased contributions is the tendency of the churches in our large cities to contribute to local needs at the expense of general interests. Church extension is the laudable effort of many of our wealthier churches and stronger Presbyteries. All honor to the spirit which prompts the strong to bear the infirmities of the weak in their own communities. But upon these yery churches and Presbyteries is devolved

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the duty of relieving the necessities of weak churches in remote and destitute neighborhoods; and while our large city churches should not abate one iota of their zeal for church extension at home, they ought also to be mindful of the claims on their contributions of churches which are planted in more sparsely settled and less financially endowed communities. To such an extent has this system of local charity come to prevail that last year more than eighty-two per cent. of the amount reported in the columns of our statistical tables appropriated to Church erection was given elsewhere than to this Board. Only a little more than seventeen per cent. reached its treasury. The discrepancy in the case of this agency of the Church is three-fold greater than in that of any other Board. It would seem but just to the Church and the Board that all our larger Synods and Presbyteries should pay into the treasury of the Board of Church Erection at least as much as they ask it to return to them, and that the large sums given as special contributions should pass through this organized and approved agency of our Church.

INTEREST IN THE MANSE WORK.

Your committee notes with extreme satisfaction the increasing interest on the part of the churches in the erection of manses. While among our wealthier congregations a manse is a source of comfort to a minister, among our feebler organizations it is almost a necessity to the church. Ordinarily a manse built and paid for is a partial endowment of the church. It counts very considerably on the salary of the pastor, besides relieving him from frequent changes of residence which imperil his comfort and impair his efficiency. We cannot too strongly approve of this department of the Board's work, nor too heartily commend to the churches the advantges resulting from availing themselves of the provisions offered for their acceptance.

THE LOAN FUND.

In accordance with the recommendation of the last General Assembly the Board has during the past year enlarged the sphere of

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its operations by establishing a Loan Fund to be employed in assisting in the erection of churches not by absolute grants but by temporary loans. In accordance with the directions of the last General Assembly the details of the plan are set forth by the Board in its annual report to the Assembly and indicate wise forethought and marked business sagacity. All over our country young churches are being organized whose prosperity demands the erection of buildings exceeding in expense their present ability, but not their prospective needs. Many of these churches are debarred from borrowing through the ordinary channels by the high rates of interest they are required to pay, and can only find the relief they need through this department of the Board's efficient effort. Under the will of the late Mrs. Mary Stuart, of New York, the Board has been made one of the residuary legatees of her estate; and there is good reason to believe that the sum expected to accrue from this source will constitute a satisfactory nucleus for the fund which the Board has thus organized. The Church, however, should by no means depend upon this single legacy for the establishment and maintenance of this fund; but should put forth strenuous efforts to secure an increased basis for the loans, it proposes to negotiate. The attention of those whom God has gifted with wealth is specially called to this new phase of Christian effort.

There are two classes of congregations that apply to the Board for aid: (1) Infant churches that need absolute grants to enable them to secure, without burdens imperiling their lives, their church homes; and (2) young churches well established, but whose growth and well, being demand the erection of more expensive buildings, which, however, the church can itself erect if the time of payment can be ex. tended over several years. The needs of this latter class, which are as imperative temporarily as that of the former, can be sufficiently met by loans payable in annual installments either with or without a low interest. Many such cases, debarred from borrowing through the ordinary channels by the high rates of interest demanded, apply for such aid to this Board. This help, owing to

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the many pressing demands of congregations of the former class, the Board has hitherto been constrained to deny.

It is to meet the case of this latter class that the Loan Fund, a department entirely distinct from the General Fund has been established.

To provide for its efficiency special contributions are invited from churches and individuals.

Contributions may also be accepted with the promise that the sums given shall be subject to the payment of interest to the donors during their life time. This plan has long been in practice in other denominations and with excellent results; Christian men and women thus becoming their own executors and at the same time receiving during their lifetime the benefit of the property they propose to entrust to the church for the furtherance of the cause of Christ.

The fund thus established may be loaned in small sums to such churches as shall be proper recipients under the following conditions:

(1) Loans shall be made only to such churches as give promise of permanent life and strength.

(2) No loan shall be made ordinarily to aid in the erection of an edifice costing more than $10,000.

(3) No loans to any one church shall ordinarily exceed either the sum of $5,000, or one-half the value of the proposed lot and edifice.

The loans thus made shall be ordinarily returned within ten years in annual installments, the amount of each annual installment to be at the discretion of the Board.

Interest at 6 per cent. shall be charged. in all ordinary cases, payable semi-annually, but in all cases where interest and annual installments are promptly and fully paid, the Board may upon the final

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payment allow a rebate equal to one-half of the aggregate annual interest.

The Board is now ready to receive applications for aid under the rules of this new department. A soon as they can be prepared blanks upon which such applications may be made will be furnished to those churches desiring them.

RESOLUTIONS.

Resolved, That this Assembly heartily approves the work of the Board of Church Erection as at present conducted, and commends it to the generous liberality of all the churches.

Resolved, That it be specially urged upon pastors and sessions to see that contributions for this worthy Board be taken during the coming year in the churches under their care.

Resolved, That in the judgment of this Assembly not less than the sum of $150,000 is needed for the work of the Board during the present fiscal year, and that strenuous efforts be put forth to realize the amount thus required.

Resolved, That it be recommended to the older Synods and Presbyteries east of the Mississippi River to have such consideration for their Western brethren as to contribute to the funds of the Board of Church Erection more than they ask from its treasury.

Resolved, That the claims of local and presbyterial work ought not to preclude contributions on the part of our churches to the general work of the Board, and that special contributions should so far as practicable pass through its treasury.

Resolved, That the Manse Fund is an important element in the work of the Board; and that while pastors and sessons are urged to support it, and churches are recommended to avail themselves of its benefits, its interests and advantages are specially commended to the Christian women of the Presbyterian Church.

Resolved, That this Assembly approves the plan for the Loan Fund submitted by the Board in its Annual Report, and commends this new department of effort to the confidence and support of the churches.

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At Clifton Springs, June 8-14, 1892, were gathered men and women from countries more numerous and far more widely separated, and speaking in more dialects and languages than were represented at Jerusalem at Pentecost, as related in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. These men and women did exactly what the apostles did in the various tongues mentioned-spoke of the wonderful works of God.

Men and women were present from widely separated lands of Africa, from Assam and Bulgaria, various parts of Burmah, China and India, from the extreme north of America, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America; from Italy, Syria, Persia and Turkey, and possibly from yet other nations.

Some had lived and worked among the lowest, others had associated with nobles and stood before kings. Modest women who had been content to toil among the outcast and teach classes of a few women; men who had hardly a name to live outside of their own homes and a wretched tribe in some savage nation; college presidents whose names are known the world over, and men whose splendid achievements have startled the world, mingled as equals in that assembly. There were printers, authors and poets, mechanics and inventors, doctors of medicine, laws and theology, translators of and commentators on Scripture; and, not least, men, who like statesmen, are moulding, from fused masses, nations and governments.

This was the ninth annual gathering of the International Missionary Union. In 1884, several foreign missionaries discovered each other at a camp meeting at Niagara Falls, and formed themselves into an association for mutual comfort and convenience. They met again the next year

at the same place; and the two following years at Thousand Islands Park. Then they changed the place to Bridgeton; and met the year after at Binghamton; but for three successive summers have met at the Clifton Springs; and there probably will be the future meetings of the Union, beginning on the second Wednesday evening of June, to continue for seven days.

The Union began with a few tens, now, it has nearly as many hundreds of members. A few, who do the routine work, meet each year; a few more are present at most of the meetings; but the vast majority are present at only a single meeting, or, at most, two in succession, and then return to the duties to which their lives are consecrated. There is hardly a land that has not within its borders a member of this Union. Two words describe the members of this Association-Foreign Missionaries. Denominational differences are not noted and are seldom referred to; the only question asked the applicant for membership is, Have you been a Foreign Missionary? In the recent gathering, were members of the Baptist, Congregational, Disciple, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist and Dutch Reformed denominations of Canada, Great Britain and the United States.

Other denominations may have been represented; but, as missionaries seldom refer to their church relations, apart from the Missionary Society, it is difficult to gain such information in a missionary gathering.

While several present were under appointment, but had never been in service in the foreign field, others, were home on their first furlough. More had spent a number of years on mission ground, and some were returning to complete the last decade of half a century of work there. In the assembly were several, who, after

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more than half a century of missionary life, are forced to remain like exiles, from the fields where their hearts still live. Nearly a hundred present had spent part of life as Foreign Missionaries; their united years of service were more than fourteen-hundred. If one might judge from the vigor and youth of many, it would be safe to guess that there was yet a thousand years of service represented in that gathering. Parents and children, fellow-missionaries, were in the gathering. And, at least, one was present, whose parents and grandparents were Missionaries; and this one had just returned from a first season of service on the foreign field. A native of Turkey, soon to return as an ordained preacher to his countrymen, a Bulgarian ready to go back with his wife to preach the Gospel in the land of their birth, and a Siamese, just ordained by the Presbytery of Rochester, to the Gospel ministry in his native land, appeared in that assembly. The last mentioned is the son of the first Bible-woman, and grandson of the first convert, and first native preacher of Siam.

On the last evening but one of this remarkable gathering, was held the most thrilling service of all. The platform was filled with missionaries going to the foreign field during the ensuing year. More than thirty appeared; some had already left the gathering. Each address was of necessity short; each was inspiring. Some parting words were witty, others jovial, most of them cheerful; but now and then a sad refrain followed the cheerful tone. Occasionally lively wit aroused peals of laughter; oftener earnest tones drew tears. A veteran told of his sainted mother's dying message, as she bade him return to his chosen field from which for six years he had been kept, that he might care for her in her old age. Others spoke of their joy at the prospect of soon re-entering the work given up years ago, because of ill

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health. Some described the satisfaction in their work, others the peace that fills the missionary's heart, as he gives up all for souls, and the Savior. And their faces witnessed for the truth of their words.

Those short though suggestive addresses thrilled many a heart, and inspired yearnings for work like that to which those were going.

Two addresses touched hearts deeper than any that preceded or followed. A young man, just back with his invalid wife broken down by the intense anxiety and suffering during the terrible riots of China where she faced death in most horrid form, spoke of his speedy return without her who had stood by him in those trying days. Then his voice faltered, became husky, and ceased. In silence he took his seat, his farewell words unspoken, as the vast audience wept in sympathy with the sorrowing husband. Then arose a woman who more than forty-two years ago gave her hand to the man of her heart; her life to the country to which he was consecrated.

Thirty years after she buried that husband in the land for which he had toiled, and by whose people he had been murdered.

Now she was going back to spend the last years of life in that inhospitable country, but among the many who had learned to love her husband better than any other mere human being. As she told her simple story, but not all that has been given in this statement, we felt that there is something in mission life that none but those who have tried can understand.

Few knew how that mother's heart yearned to be with her four children left behind, children known by many, honored by all who know them; few knew the agony that widow had endured when bereft of a husband worthy an angel-bride; few knew what home and comforts might be hers in this land of her birth. They merely saw and heard a modest woman telling of many who needed the gospel in the country of