tions: Presbyterian Church in the United States of America; Presbyterian Church in the United States; United Presbyterian Church of North America; Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church; General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church; Associate Reformed Synod of the South; Reformed Church in America; Reformed Church of the United States; Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church; Presbyterian Church of Canada; Church of Scotland; Free Church of Scotland; United Presbyterian Church of Scotland; Presbyterian Church of England; Presbyterian Church of Ireland; National Reformed Church of France; Free Evangelical Church of Germany; Spanish Christian Church; Free Church of Switzerland; Missionary Church of Belgium; Reformed Church of Bohemia; Presbyterian Church of Victoria; Presbyterian Church of New South Wales; Presbyterian Church of Tasmania; Presbytery of Ceylon; and Mission Synod of the New Hebrides. Delegates were also present from India, South Australia, and several Presbyterian missions. The whole number of delegates was 265-180 ministers and 85 elders.

Delegates were appointed to the Council from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, but the Council was not fully satisfied that the doctrines of that Church are in harmony with the consensus of the Reformed Confessions, and they were not admitted. The sessions of the Council were continued till the 3d of October; during their continuance, the following papers were read, and debated in brief discus

sions:

66

"The Ceremonial, the Moral, and the Emotional in Christian Life and Worship," Professor Roswell D. Hitchcock, D. D., LL. D., New York City; "Modern Theological Thought," Principal Robert Rainey, D. D., Edinburgh; "Religion in Secular Affairs," Principal G. M. Grant, D. D., Kingston, Canada; "Inspiration, Authenticity, and Interpretation of the Scriptures," Professor E. P. Humphrey, D. D., LL. D., Louisville, Kentucky, and Professor Robert Watts, D. D., Belfast; "Distinctive Principles of Presbyterianism," Professor Samuel J. Wilson, D. D., LL. D., Allegheny City, Pennsylvania; "Worship of the Reformed Churches," John DeWitt, D. D., Philadelphia; Ruling Elders," Rev. C. H. Reed, D. D., Richmond, Virginia; "The Application of the Gospel to Employers and Employed," William G. Blaikie, D. D., LL. D., Edinburgh; "Christianity the Friend of the Working Classes," Chief-Justice C. D. Drake, Washington, D. C.; "Revealed Religion in its Relations to Science and Philosophy," Professor Henry Calderwood, LL. D., Edinburgh; "How to deal with Young Men trained in Science in this Age of Unsettled Opinions," President James McCosh, D. D., LL. D., Princeton, New Jersey; "Agnosticism," Professor Robert Flint, D. D., LL. D., Edinburgh; "Creeds and Confessions," Dr. A. B. Van Zandt, New Brunswick, New Jersey;

"Bible Revision," Professor J. W. Chambers, D.D., New York City; "Presbyterianism and Education," Professor Edward D. Morris, D. D., Cincinnati, Ohio; "Religion and Politics," Professor Lyman H. Atwater, D. D., Princeton, New Jersey; "Presbyterianism in Relation to Civil and Religious Liberty," Sylvester H. Savell, D. D., Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; "Catholicity of Presbyterianism," George C. Hutton, D. D., Paisley, Scotland, Principal D. H. MacVicar, D. D., LL. D., Montreal, Canada, and William H. Campbell, D. D., New York City, "The Vicarious Sacrifice of Christ," Principal John Cairns, D. D., Edinburgh, and Professor A. A. Hodge, D. D., Princeton, New Jersey; "Church Extension in Large Cities," R. M. Patterson, D. D., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and William J. R. Taylor, D. D., Newark, New Jersey; "Church Extension in Sparsely-settled Districts," W. J. Reid, D. D., Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; "The Conflict between Faith and Rationalism in Holland," Professor J. J. Van Oosterzee, D.D., Utrecht; Paper, "The Theology of the Reformed Church with Special Reference to the Westminster Standards," Professor Alexander Mitchell, D. D., St. Andrews; "Grounds and Methods of Admission to Sealing Ordinances," Rev. D. D. Bannerman, M. A., Perth; "Baptism," T. P. Stevenson, D. D., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; "Sabbath Observance," Professor William Gregg, D. D., Toronto; "Popular Amusements,' "Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D., Brooklyn, New York; "The Proper Care, Support, and Training of Candidates for the Ministry," Herrick J. Johnson, D.D., Chicago, Illinois; "Future Retribution," T.D. Witherspoon, D. D., Petersburg, Virginia; Temperance," Hon. William E. Dodge, New York City; "Our Relations to the Churches of the European Continent," J. S. McIntosh, Belfast, Ireland; "Personal Religion," Rev. David Steele, D. D., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; "Regeneration," Professor J. H. A. Bomberger, D. D., Ursinus College, Pennsylvania.

Addresses were made by delegates from the several countries on the state of religion, and particularly of churches of the Presbyterian order in France, Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, Moravia, Bohemia, and Spain. Addresses were also made upon the condition of religious and mission work in Japan, China, the New Hebrides Islands, Syria, India, among the Choctaw Indians, and in South Africa. A report was made on the foreign missions of the Presbyterian Churches of the United States and Canada, in which the statistics of all the missions were shown to be as follows:

American ministers in the field..

Native ministers.

Native licentiate preachers..
Medical missionaries and teachers

American women connected with the missions.

195

135

193

18

266

894

18,371

1,691

12,987

Two committees, one American and one Eu

Teachers and Bible-readers... Scholars in boarding-schools..

Communicants.

Scholars in day-schools....

ropean, were appointed to secure cooperation and close union of the several churches in the work of the mission-field. A committee on "the Desiderata of Presbyterian History reported that the work of collecting the returns was still incomplete, and was continued. Committees were appointed to reconsider the desirableness of defining the consensus of the Reformed Churches as required by the constitution of the Alliance, and report at the next meeting of the Council, and to define grounds for and act upon applications for admission to membership in the Alliance. A resolution was adopted in favor of arbitration as a means of preserving peace among nations. It was decided that the next meeting of the Council should be held in Belfast, Ireland, in 1884.

RHODE ISLAND. The adjourned, or January, session of the General Assembly of Rhode Island began on the 20th of January and continued until the 16th of April. There was little of general interest or importance in its proceedings. An effort to secure to women the right to vote on matters pertaining to public education was defeated, as was an attempt to amend the insolvency laws and to pass a new act in relation to the sale of intoxicating liquors. An act was passed abolishing the tribal authority and tribal relations of the Narragansett Indians, also one for the punishment of tramps. The Legislature of 1879 assigned to a joint special committee the duty of examining and reporting "as to what course is most advisable for the State to pursue in relation to the future management of the Providence Reform School," etc. The committee reported at the January session in favor of the transfer of the institution to the State, and an act was passed in April to effect this purpose. The Board of State Charities and Correction was requested to make a report to the Legislature at the May session on the general subject of Reform School management.

Before the adjournment of the General Assembly the State election had been held and a new Legislature chosen. The first of the political conventions was that of the Prohibitory party, which was held in the hall of the House of Representatives at Providence, on the 19th of February. A letter was received from Governor Van Zandt expressing his gratitude for the "constant support of the temperance men of Rhode Island," and declining the use of his name for a renomination. Albert C. Howard, of East Providence, was nominated for Governor; T. M. Seabury, for Lieutenant-Governor; Joshua M. Addeman, for Secretary of State; Willard Sayles, for Attorney-General; and Samuel Clark for General Treasurer. Mr. Seabury subsequently declined to be a candidate for Lieutenant-Governor, and the name of Harrison H. Richardson was substituted by the State Central Committee of the party. The Convention adopted no platform.

The Republican Convention was held at Providence on the 18th of March. The candidates

nominated for State officers were: Alfred H. Littlefield, of Lincoln, for Governor; Henry H. Fay, of Newport, for Lieutenant-Governor; Joshua M. Addeman, of Providence, for Secretary of State; Willard Sayles, of Providence, for Attorney-General; and Samuel Clark, of Lincoln, for General Treasurer. Delegates to the National Convention of the party were also chosen, but no platform was adopted.

The Democrats held their Convention at Providence on the 22d of March. Horace A. Kimball, of Burrillville, was nominated as a candidate for Governor; Stephen P. Slocum, of Newport, for Lieutenant-Governor; W. B. W. Hallett, for Secretary of State; Hugh J. Carroll, for Attorney-General; and Daniel B. Pond, for General Treasurer. Delegates to the National Convention at Cincinnati were chosen, and the following declarations were adopted:

The Democrats of Rhode Island, in convention assembled, congratulate the country upon the multiplying evidences that the Republican party is passing into a condition of disintegration and decay. It has it into being-Seward, Chase, Sumner, Lincoln, Moroutlived its usefulness; the old leaders who brought ton, and a long list of great men-have passed away, and in their places we see the Conklings, the Blaines, the Shermans, the Camerons-corrupt and scheming men, the names of many of whom have become a stench in the nostrils of the body politic. These men, already gorged with plunder, are pushing to the front, eager to slake their drunken thirst from the very vitals of the nation's life. Another four years of Republicanism in power will furnish a spectacle of greed, reckmation of the republic. This country is at the crisis lessness, and rascality never witnessed since the forof its fate. All good men see the necessity of a change of administration and methods. The Democratic party is the only power ready and able to face the impending peril and rescue the Government from the grasp of the should be dealt the final blow to rapacity and dishonusurper and destroyer. With returning prosperity esty. Unless that blow is struck in this year of grace 1880, the party of centralization, a strong Governand too powerful to be shaken off. It is best for Demoment," ," and imperialism, will make its grasp perpetual crats to look the danger in the face. And that the people of this enterprising State may understand the objects and motives which actuate us, we herewith put forward the following declaration of principles: and, anxious to bear their part in the great work of Whereas, The Democracy of the State of Rhode Islredeeming the nation from Republican misrule, find themselves hampered and restricted by an unjust and oppressive enactment in contravention of the Constitution of the United States, and the great principles of manhood suffrage which lies at the basis of all popular liberty; and

Whereas, This enactment alone prevents Rhode Island from becoming a Democratic State by a decisive and permanent majority; therefore, in all parts of these United States that fully one fourth Resolved, That we give notice to liberty-loving men of the citizens of this Commonwealth are deprived of the right of suffrage by the accident of birth, no citizen of the United States of foreign nativity, no matter how long his residence, how upright his character, or how polls unless endowed with a property qualification not eminent his usefulness, being allowed access to the exacted of the meanest vagabond or vilest criminal of native birth.

Resolved, That, having borne this wrong meekly for successive generations, we now resolve unitedly and until it is stricken from the Constitution; and we apcourageously to wage war upon it by all lawful means peal to Democrats everywhere to make common cause

with us in resisting this great wrong, which has imposed upon us an oligarchy as oppressive and merciless as the meanest despotism of Asia.

Resolved, That we arraign the Republican party as wholly responsible for the perpetuation of this proscriptive principle, which is keeping back population, depressing industry and enterprise, and will rob the State of one representative in Congress.

Resolved, That we recognize a tendency toward the tame proscriptive system in our Federal Government, which, by the employment of United States marshals and soldiers at the polls, has already stifled the voice of the majority in more than one State, making our boasted right of suffrage a mockery and by-word, and bringing contempt upon republican institutions in all nations which boast the supremacy of their "strong Governments." That man must be blind indeed who does not see in this crushing out of suffrage a positive and rapid tendency toward monarchy and absolutism.

Resolved, That the time has not yet come for the Democracy to be forgetful of the stupendous fraud of 1876-277, when the President and Vice-President of the United States, elected by an overwhelming majority of the people, and by a decisive vote in the electoral college, were deprived of their offices by an infamous conspiracy concocted by men now high in official position and the confidence of the Administration; and we do hereby denounce and condemn, and hold up to the execration of the world the foul crime against our institutions by which the right of the people to choose their rulers was denied for the first time in the history of the republic.

Resolved, That we refer with pride to the forbearance of the Democracy in submitting to this great wrong, and ask the people of the United States to contrast with it the boast of the Republican party that the man whom they nominate at Chicago is to be inaugurated, even if he calls 500,000 soldiers to his aid.

Resolved, That the men who are elected to the offices of President and Vice-President of the United States in November, 1880, shall be inaugurated.

Resolved, That we regard the recent developments of dishonesty in high official circles in this State as the legitimate fruit of that condition of irresponsibility in politics fostered by the ring which holds the majority of voters with a grip of iron; and we unhesitatingly declare that our only security from further disgrace is in the ascendancy of Democratic principles, by which these Augean stables of Republican rule shall be

cleansed.

Resolved, That the Republican ring of this State has shown itself the enemy of the soldier, as exhibited in the preference for office of civilians, whose only claim is party service. We denounce this as a breach of faith, and the most glaring hypocrisy on the part of a party which claims an exclusive patent upon everything truly loyal," and assumes to be the soldier's only friend.

Resolved, That the policy of a large proportion of the Republican party, of electing to the Presidency for a third term the man whose administration was conspicuous chiefly for its failures and the numerous scandals arising from the employment of dishonest and incompetent men in office, should be condemned, not only as in violation of a tradition that has been held sacred for a century both by the people and the most eminent of Presidents and statesmen, but as perilous to the permanence of the Government itself and the liberties of the people under it; and we appeal to the people of the United States to rise up as one man against this contemplated plot to overthrow a precedent as firmly established as the Constitution itself, and the possible results of which no patriot can contemplate without horror.

Resolved, That for a general avowal of the great principles which underlie the Democratic party, and which shall receive our support in the coming contest, we hereby solemnly declare:

1. Fidelity to all the provisions of the Constitution, retrenchment and economy in Federal and State ad

2. The strict accountability of all officials and the reduction of the Democratic tests of honesty, fidelity, and capacity as essential qualifications for all public officers.

3. The honest payment of the public debts in such currency as its terms imply, and the preservation of the public faith.

4. Home rule, no centralization of State or Federal powers; no Federal interference in municipal, State, or Federal elections.

5. A just and equitable revenue tariff.

6. Manhood suffrage. To vote is a duty the citizen owes his State. The provision for a pecuniary consideration in the case of the registered voter should be annulled. Tax the citizen, not the citizen's vote.

Resolved, That the Democracy of Rhode Island will earnestly labor for purer and more economical administration; that the State ticket nominated to-day shall receive our united and hearty support, and that we hail with satisfaction the evidence of a growing desire on the part of the people to emancipate themselves from the party of political bigotry, intolerance, and ring-rule which has for years controlled this State. Convinced that the Republican party, made infamous by the most gigantic crimes, can not always prosper or maintain its ascendancy over a free people, we call upon all who believe in honest government and desire the perpetuity of our institutions, to aid in strengthening our organization, which must be the ultimate hope of the State and the Union when political crime shall become exposed in all its hideousness and the people are thoroughly aroused to the danger that threatens them from those who would abridge their liberties, who have turned the Government into a refuge of thieves, and who to-day are prospering in crime.

The

The election took place on April 7th. When the new Legislature, which consisted of twenty-seven Republicans and seven Democrats in the Senate, and fifty-nine Republicans and twelve Democrats in the House of Representatives, came together at Newport on the 25th of May, and the votes were canvassed in the "Grand Committee," it was found that the whole number cast for Governor was 22,809, making 11,405 necessary to a choice. Alfred H. Littlefield received 10,224, Horace A. Kimball 7,440, Albert C. Howard 5,047, and 98 were scattering." There was, therefore, no choice of Governor by the popular vote. same was the case in regard to the LieutenantGovernor. The whole number of votes for Secretary of State was 22,585, of which Joshua M. Addeman received 15,097, William B. W. Hallett 7,406, and 82 were scattering. Willard Sayles was elected Attorney-General, and Samuel Clark General Treasurer, by a similar vote. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor were chosen by a joint ballot of the two branches to the two candidates receiving the highest of the Legislature, the choice being confined vote at the election. In a total vote of 102, Littlefield for Governor had 82, and Kimball 20; and Fay for Lieutenant-Governor 81, and Slocum 21.

The inauguration of Littlefield followed immediately on the first day of the May session" of the Legislature. This session was brief, continuing only from May 25th to 28th, inclusive, with an adjourned sitting on the 8th and 9th of June for the election of United States Senator in accordance with the

requirement of the Federal law, that the first vote shall be taken on the second Tuesday of the session. General Ambrose E. Burnside was reelected to the Senate of the United States, the vote being as follows: In the Senate, A. E. Burnside, 25; George H. Brown, 7; C. O. Van Zandt, 2. In the House, Burnside, 54; Brown, 9; Van Zandt, 2; and J. Lewis Dimond and William P. Sheffield, 1 each.

The legislation of the May session was of small amount and little importance. The report of the State Board of Charities and Correction on the question of dealing with juvenile offenders was received, and an act was passed locating the new Reform School on the State farm at Cranston, and providing for the erection of the necessary buildings. An act was also passed to prevent deception in the sale of butter, requiring "oleomargarine" to be labeled with its proper designation. A resolution was adopted authorizing the Governor to appoint a committee to revise and digest the public laws of the State. John F. Tobey, Joshua M. Addeman, and George M. Carpenter, Jr., were appointed on this commission, and their work was completed and submitted to the Legislature at the adjourned session in January, 1881. The plan adopted in regard to changes in the laws is thus stated in their report:

1. To make all amendments, whether by addition, removal, or substitution, which are required by the language of all amendatory statutes passed since 1872, and by the literal interpretation of those statutes.

2. To make such amendments as seem to be required by a fair construction of the meaning and intent of those amendatory statutes, and such as seem to be required in order to carry them into practical effect. Under this class the changes are comparatively few in number, but of several distinct kinds, and, perhaps, do not need to be enumerated. Prominent among these are the change, in some instances, of the formal and subordinate duties of various town officers, in order to conform to the systems of registration, and of militia enlisting and returns which have lately been made, and the various changes rendered necessary by the establishment of certain administrative boards.

3. To make a revision of the form and language of the General Statutes as thus amended, so as to secure greater clearness of arrangement and ease of reference, and to make the language more concise, uniform, and accurate in those particulars where, in consequence of the necessary haste in which some acts have been passed, it seemed desirable.

State Conventions were held in October for. the nomination of candidates for electors of President and Vice-President of the United States, and district Conventions for the nomination of candidates for members of Congress. The Republican State Convention occurred on the 8th, at Providence, and speeches were made expressive of the party sentiment on national questions, but no formal declarations were adopted, and no business was transacted except the nomination of electors. The Congressional District Conventions were held the same day and at the same place. The delegates of the first district nominated Nelson W. Aldrich without opposition, but those of the second took eighty-eight ballots before effect

ing a nomination, and the result was then brought about by the withdrawal of W. A. Pierce, one of the prominent candidates before the Convention. The name finally agreed upon was that of Jonathan Chase, of Lincoln.

The Democratic State Convention took place at Providence on the 13th, and its action was confined to the selection of candidates for Presidential electors. The Eastern District Convention nominated Isaac Lawrence, of Newport, as a candidate for Congress, and the Western District Convention agreed upon Mr. Treat, of Warwick.

A State Convention of the Greenback party was held at Providence on the 19th of October for the nomination of electors, and the following platform was adopted:

1. The Greenback-Labor party of Rhode Island affirms the Chicago platform of June 9, 1880, and heartily supports the candidates nominated thereon. 2. It demands the payment of the bonded indebtedness of the United States without unnecessary delay; 3. The substitution of non-interest-bearing greenbacks, in place of double-interest-bearing nationalbank notes;

currency, and shall control its volume, and preserve unchanged its purchasing power as sacredly as measures of weight, length, and kindred measures are preserved, and for like obvious reasons;

4. That the national Government alone shall issue

5. Universal suffrage without distinction of sex, and universal education.

6. That the Congress of the United States perform, without evasion and without delay, its sworn duty to invest the naturalized citizens of the United States in Rhode Island with the privileges and immunities, as well as permit to be imposed upon them the duties of citizenship, to this end refusing, if necessary, to seat any representative from Rhode Island till the oligarchy here shall observe the supreme law of the land in this regard.

by the delegates from the districts. That for Candidates for Congress were also nominated the First or Eastern District was Henry C. Cram, of Providence; for the Second or Western District, John Francis Smith, of Cranston.

At the November election the total vote for Presidential electors was 29,235, of which 18,195 were for the Republican ticket, 10,779 for that of the Democrats, 236 for the Greenback, 20 for the Prohibition, 4 for the American candidates, and 1 was reported as scattering." The Republican plurality over the Democratic vote was 7,416; majority over all, 7,155. In the first Congressional District Aldrich was elected by a vote of 9,510 to 4,586 for Lawrence, and 188 "scattering"; in the second, Chase was elected by a vote of 8,515 to 6,027 for Treat, and 139 "scattering."

The population of Rhode Island, according to the new Federal census, is 276,528, of which 104,850 is in the city of Providence, 19,030 in Pawtucket, 16,053 in Woonsocket, 15,693 in Newport, 13,765 in Lincoln, and 12,165 in Warwick, or 181,554 in the six cities, leaving but 94,974, or little more than one third, for the rest of the State.

The receipts of the State Treasury for the year were $837,323.43, including a balance on