Southern States, and was under the charge of Bishop P. F. Stevens. The Missionary Jurisdiction of the Northwest and West comprised the States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois— not including the Synod of Chicago-Wisconsin, Minnesota, and all other of the States and Territories of the United States lying west of the Mississippi River, and east of the Rocky Mountains, and was in charge of Bishop Samuel Fallows, D.D. The Synod of Chicago comprised the following churches: Christ's Church, Chicago; Emmanuel Church, Chicago; St. Matthew's Church, Chicago; Grace Church, Chicago; St. John's Church, Chicago; Trinity Church, Englewood; Christ Church, Peoria; St. John's Church, Chillicothe; Church of the Epiphany, Detroit, Michigan, and was in charge of Bishop Charles Edward Cheney, D.D. The General Synod of Great Britain and Ireland comprised England, Scotland, and Ireland, under the charge of Bishops John Sugden, B.A., and A. S. Richardson, D.D.-Rev. P. X. Eldridge, Christ Church Parsonage, Peterborough, being Secretary-had a separate and independent existence, granted by resolution of the General Council, May 26, 1878. THE BISHOPS AND OFFICERS. The bishops living on Jan. 1, 1886, were: Charles Edward Cheney, D.D., consecrated by Bishop Cummins and five Presbyters, in Christ Church, Chicago, Ill., Dec. 14, 1873; William R. Nicholson, D.D., consecrated by Bishops Cummins, Cheney, Simpson-of the Methodist Episcopal Church --and nine Presbyters, in the Second Reformed Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 24, 1876; Edward Cridge, B.A.,Cantab., consecrated by Bishops Cheney, Nicholson, Carman--of the Methodist Episcopal Church-and nine Presbyters, in Emmanuel Church, Ottawa, Ontario, July 17, 1876; Samuel Fallows, D.D., consecrated at the same time and place as Bishop Cridge, and by the same Bishops and Presbyters; John Sugden, B.A., consecrated by Bishops Cridge and THE BISHOPS AND OFFICERS. 407 Price, assisted by several Presbyters, in Christ Church, Lambeth, England, Aug. 20, 1876, received, on Letters Dimissory, from the Free Church of England, by Bishop Gregg and the Standing Committee of the Missionary Jurisdiction of the United Kingdom; P. F. Stevens, consecrated by Bishops Nicholson and Fallows, assisted by several Presbyters, in the Second Reformed Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pa., June 22, 1879; James A. Latané, D.D., consecrated at the same time and place as Bishop Stevens, and by the same Bishops and Presbyters; Alfred Spencer Richardson, D.D., consecrated at the same time and place as Bishops Stevens and Latané, and by the same Bishops and Presbyters; Hubert Bower, consecrated by Bishops Sugden and Richardson, assisted by several Presbyters, at St. Saviour's Church, Littlehampton, England, Aug. 19, 1879; and Edward Wilson, D.D., consecrated by Bishops Nicholson and Latané, assisted by several Presbyters, in the Second Reformed Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pa., July 1, 1880. The officers of the General Council for 1885-"7 were: President and Presiding Bishop, Bishop James A. Latané, D.D., of Baltimore, Md.; Secretary, Charles D. Kellogg, New York City; Assistant Secretary, Rev. Joseph B. North, Philadelphia, Pa.; Treasurer, John Heins, Philadelphia, Pa. CHAPTER XXVII. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Doctrines of Presbyterians-Meaning of the Name-The Government of the Church-The Session, Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly-Duties of Members and Ceremonies of the Church-The Ordination of Church Officers. DOCTRINES OF PRESBYTERIANS. RESBYTERIANS hold in common with many other bodies of Christians the Calvinistic system of doctrines. Their faith is epitomized in the Westminster Confession. They derive their denominational name from the fact that there is no order in the Church, as established by Christ and his Apostles, superior to that of Presbyters; that all ministers being ambassadors of Christ, are equal by commission; that Presbyter or Elder, and Bishop, are merely different names for the same person; and that Deacons are laymen whose office is chiefly to take care of the poor. They regard a Presbytery as a society of clerical and lay Presbyters, or, as they usually call them, ministers and elders. They affirm that the primitive form of church government was universally Presbyterian, and that this form, having, after the time of the Apostles, been supplanted by Episcopacy, was restored in various parts of Europe after the Reformation had begun. They acknowledge no authority in respect to the doctrines and duties of the Christian church but the will of God as found in the sacred Scriptures; they maintain that God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men; that the rights of pri |