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they did not design to displace the Confession of Faith, but rather to direct attention to it as a document to which the Church had solemnly declared its adherence.

Their official reports for the year 1884 showed: Number of ministers, 732; congregations, 858; members, 87,637; Sunday-schools, 786; scholars and teachers, 78,525, with an average attendance of 49,940 persons; Sunday-school contriLutions, $55,237.

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States-The Two Branches and Synods-The Cumberland Presbyterian Church-Outgrowth of a Revival in Kentucky-Doctrines in the Confession of Faith.

THE

THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

HE Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States derives her origin from the old Reformation Church of Scotland. In that country the revival of evangelical religion may be said to have assumed practical shape in 1559, when, under the preaching of John Knox, the people were brought to regard the Church of Rome with such hostility that the Queen Regent avowed her intention to suppress the Reformation with fire and sword. This precipitated the crisis, and induced the Reformers to combine and arm themselves in self-defence.

From this time forward the progress of the Reformation was rapid. In 1560 the authority of the Pope was renounced, the Bible was declared free to all, and a Confession of Faith and Book of Discipline, giving to the Church a Presbyterian constitution, were adopted. In 1580 the Scottish Reformers entered into a solemn covenant, which was subscribed and sworn to by the king and people of all ranks. This was called the "National Covenant." In subscribing to it the covenanters solemnly bound themselves to adhere to and defend the true religion, as expressed in the Confession of Faith, and to forbear from the practice of the innovations

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recently introduced, which, in their belief, were "contrary to the Word of God and tending to the re-establishment of the Popish religion." Thus arose the Reformed Presbyterian Church.

The union of the crowns of Scotland and England in 1603 resulted in a hierarchy which was deemed dangerous in the last degree to the Presbyterian interests. This united in still closer bonds the friends of ecclesiastical liberty. When King James VI. on the death of Queen Elizabeth of England, became monarch of that kingdom also, he laid aside his Presbyterian principles and became one of the strongest asserters of arbitrary power. He held that the king is the Head of the Church, and "that a Presbytery was fit only for a nation of republicans."

In 1617 James endeavored to impose on the Church of Scotland the whole system of ceremonies observed in the English Church, but upon the first attempt to introduce them, so unmistakable were the murmurings of the people that the bishops took the alarm and laid them aside. The English liturgy was, however, read every day in the Royal Chapel, and for the first time since the Reformation the sound of instrumental music was heard there. In 1618 an assembly held in Perth passed certain acts for the introduction to Scotland of some English ceremonies. These were, kneeling at sacrament; the private administration of baptism; private communicating; the observance of holidays; and confirmation. They are known as the "Five Articles of Perth"; they were ratified by Parliament and became the law of the land. Their rigorous enforcement followed, which resulted in the banishment of many ministers eminent for piety, learning, and eloquence.

In 1633 King Charles imposed upon Scotland a "Service Book." This was the signal for a most determined resistance to the innovations from all parts of Scotland, and the result was the great moral revolution of 1638. In this year, while Charles I. and Parliament were contending, the Protestants of Scotland entered into a solemn league and covenant with the English Parliament, by which the independence

THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

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of the Presbyterian churches was confirmed. It was at this time that the Scottish Presbyterians began to be styled "Covenanters."

At the accession of William and Mary in 1689, Episcopacy was established in England and Ireland, and Presbyterianism in Scotland. This retained the very obnoxious feature against which the Covenanters had so long struggled -royal supremacy over the Church-and a portion of them dissented from it, urging, 1st, that the Solemn League and Covenant, which they considered the constitution of the empire, was entirely disregarded in its arrangements; and, 2d, that the civil rulers usurped an authority over the church which virtually destroyed her spiritual independence, and was at variance with the sole headship of the Redeemer.

For more than sixteen years the Covenanters remained without a ministry, organizing themselves into praying societies and meeting statedly for religious worship. In 1706 the Rev. John MacMillan left the Established Church and joined them. The Rev. Mr. Nairne followed, from the Secession Church in 1743, and these two, with ruling elders, constituted the "Reformed Presbytery." Through this body the Reformed Presbyterians in America received their ministry.

From the early part of the eighteenth century the persecutions at home had gradually driven a number of Covenanters and their families to America. In 1743 the Rev. Mr. Craighead collected the Covenanters of Pennsylvania together and induced them to bind themselves to abide by and maintain their principles. In 1752 the Rev. Mr. Cuthbertson arrived in America from the Reformed Presbytery of Scotland, and being joined by Messrs. Lind and Dobbin, from the Reformed Presbytery of Ireland, in 1774 a presbytery was constituted and the Church took her stand as a distinct visible community in the North American Colonies.

Her growth was slow until 1782, which year was signalized by the union of the presbyteries of the Associate and Reformed Churches, which gave origin to the "Associate Re

formed Church in the United States." A portion of the Associate Church and one of her ministers, however, did not approve of the union, and a large number of the people of the Reformed Presbyterian Church were also opposed to it. Neither of these bodies would enter into it when consummated, and thus both, though diminished in numbers, retained their distinctive organizations. Hence, instead of the consolidation of two bodies into one, there resulted but the addition of a new body to the original number.

Within ten years from this time four ministers emigrated from Europe to aid in maintaining the Reformed Presbyterian cause. They were the Revs. Reid, McGarragh, King, and McKinney. In 1798 the Rev. Messrs. McKinney and Gibson, with ruling elders, proceeded to constitute the "Reformed Presbytery of the United States of North America." Thus the Church took her stand on American ground. Some Reformed Presbyterians have, from time to time, entertained the opinion that the Constitution and government of the United States are essentially infidel and immoral, and that, therefore, they should be dissenters from both, and principally on the ground of maintaining this opinion a number of ministers with adherents, in 1833, withdrew from the General Synod, and up to the present time the two bodies have maintained a separate existence, each claiming to be the original church. The seceding party of 1833 assumed the name of the "Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church," while the other body retains the name which the Church had before the division, viz.: "The General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church."

The doctrinal principles of the Church are thoroughly Calvinistic. Their leading doctrines and order of worship are substantially the same as those of the Presbyterian Church proper, except in the following respects:

1. That in singing God's praise the Psalms are to be used in social worship, to the exclusion of all imitations and uninspired compositions.

2. Sacramental communion is not to be extended to those

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