our efforts to provide fully for the exigences to which they and their families may be reduced, be it Resolved, That this whole matter be committed to a special committee, to consider it in all its bearings, and report to the next General Assembly on the practicability of extending existing agencies or adopting a new method enabling Ministers, especially those who are entering on their work, to provide in a measure for their own households in the event of their removal or their being disabled."*

TEMPERANCE.

What action has the Assembly taken on Temperance? In 1811 a committee was appointed to devise measures to prevent some of the mischief which was experienced from the use of spirituous liquors. Their report was adopted, requiring Ministers to preach often on the sin of intemperance, and to warn against the habits which tend to produce it. The Sessions were enjoined to exercise special vigilance over communicants in regard to this sin, and to endeavor by private warnings and public censure "to purge the Church of a sin so enormous in its mischiefs and so disgraceful to the Christian name;" and the officers and members were urged to labor to reduce the number of taverns and other places for the sale of liquor. In 1818 a pastoral letter was issued on the subject. In 1827 it was Resolved, “That the Presbyterian Church in the United States will, with all readiness of mind, co-operate with their Christian brethren of every denomination, together with every friend of our country and of humanity, in one great national effort to accomplish a universal change in the habits and customs of our country relative to the intem*Minutes G. A. 1881, p. 592.

perate use of intoxicating liquors." This was in relation to the formation of the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance. A day of fasting and prayer was appointed in 1828. In 1829 and 1830 the Assembly rejoiced in the increased numbers and success of temperance societies, and urged their formation in each congregation, on the principle of entire abstinence from the use of ardent spirits. The N. S. Assembly in 1840, 1864 and 1866 reiterated the approbation of temperance societies, protested against forms and fashions which countenanced intemperance, urged all to refrain from cider, beer and ale as a beverage, and the manufacture and use of domestic wines, and declared "that total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks as a beverage is demanded from every Christian by the condition of society, the purity of the Church and the word of God." In 1865 the O. S. Assembly uttered a similar deliverance, and adopted a paper expressing the views of the Assembly on intemperance, the manufacture and sale of ardent spirits and the liability to church discipline of those who make or sell intoxicating drinks. The Assembly did not "sanction the adoption of any new terms of communion," but asserted that "the practice of manufacturing and retailing intoxicating drinks as a beverage is a sin against the brethren and against Christ, and while persevered in vitiates this evidence (of Christian character) and works a forfeiture of the privileges of the Christian communion." The reunited Church in 1871 reiterated the testimonies of former Assemblies, which the Board of Publication were ordered to print in abstract and send to all our Ministers.* Every year the Assembly has passed like resolutions on this subject.

What is "the Permanent Committee on Temperance"? In 1880, in answer to an overture, a special committee of nine was appointed to whom was referred the question of a Permanent Committee of the Assembly on Temperance, to report the next year. They recommended that the "Assembly appoint a Permanent Committee on Temperance, which shall consist of fifteen members-eight Ministers and seven laymen-a majority of whom shall reside in and near who

shall hold their first meeting in that city on the second Tuesday of June next, and then and there divide by lot into three separate sections of five each, to hold office for one, two and three years; their successors to be appointed each year for a term of three years by the General Assembly; the said committee to adopt their own by-laws, subject to the approval of the Assembly."

"The duty of this Permanent Committee shall be to seek to quicken and to unite our Synods and churches in suitable measures for promoting the temperance reform; to mature and report action on the subject to the General Assembly; to gather and report such statistics as may be of value and interest to the Church; to call attention to the deliverances of the Assembly on temperance, and recommend to the Board of Publication the issue of suitable works on the subject; to codify the previous acts of the Assembly on temperance for publication by the Board; and to initiate measures for promoting similar action by other branches of the evangelical Church. The expense of such publications shall be borne by the Board. Other expenses of this committee, to the amount of $250 annually, if not otherwise provided for, shall be paid from the treasury of the General Assembly." This recommendation was adopted,

and the blank was filled with the city of New York.* This is a new departure. All the other Boards or Permanent Committees are for the general work of the Church, the Assembly having refrained from appointing them in regard to special sins or virtues. This same Assembly (1881) refused to appoint a Permanent Committee on the Sabbath, though overtured to do so by a Presbytery and the International Sabbath-school Association, and referred to the action of the previous year, in which a similar petition from three Presbyteries was denied, on the ground that it is not expedient to multiply Permanent Committees, and the Assembly can itself better discharge the duty.†

COMMITTEE ON MANSES.

What were the early efforts of the Church to secure Manses?

In 1766 the Synod of New York and Philadelphia ordered "that in every congregation a committee be appointed, who shall twice in every year collect the Minister's stipend, and lay his receipts before the Presbytery preceding the Synod, and at the same time that the Ministers give an account of their diligence in visiting and catechising their people." "The Synod recommends that a glebe, with a convenient house and necessary improvements, be provided for every Minister." The subject of ministerial support was again before the Synod in 1782 and 1783, and before the General Assembly in 1799, and the churches were urged, for the interest of religion, for the honor of the Church and for the comfort and efficiency of their Pastors, to see that liberal *Minutes G. A. 1881, pp. 537, 592.

† Ibid., 1880, p. 76; 1881, p. 548.

salaries be promptly paid, glebes and parsonages provided, and congregational and Pastor's libraries furnished in every church.*

What action was taken by the O. S. Assembly?

In 1843 the O. S. Assembly adopted the following paper: "For the purpose of facilitating the settlement and support of Pastors, and to guard more effectually against the temptation, or almost necessity, as in some cases seems to exist, for Ministers to involve themselves, to the injury of their usefulness, in procuring accommodations for themselves and families, Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to our churches, wherever it is expedient and practicable, to provide suitable parsonages for the accommodation of their Pastors. Resolved, That great care be taken to have these parsonages so guarded by legal arrangements as most effectually to prevent controversy, and secure their perpetual enjoyment by the churches providing them for the continued support of the gospel through coming generations." Action was taken in 1854 in regard to ministerial support, and an important report on the subject was ordered to be published. In 1864 the Assembly declared that, "Whereas the importance of providing parsonages for the comfortable accommodation of Presbyterian Ministers and their families is a duty, the performance of which cannot be much longer delayed, but the magnitude of the operation demands a careful scrutiny of the state of the Church and a thorough knowledge of her condition; therefore Resolved, That the churches under the care of the General Assembly be requested to reply to the following questions." These were seven in number, designed to ascertain how

* Records of the Presbyterian Church, pp. 359, 495, 499; Assembly's Digest, p. 95. † Assembly's Digest, pp. 197-203.