and peace, from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, we subscribe, by order and in behalf of the General Assembly,

"EZRA FISK, MODERATOR,

"JOHN M'DOWELL, PERMANENT CLERK,

"A true copy, attested and transmitted by

"EZRA STILES ELY,

"Stated Clerk of the General Assembly.”

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“Summary Statistical Report of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, for June, 1830.

"SINCE the last summary view was given, six new Presbyteries have been formed within our bounds; so that the Assembly has now under its care nineteen Synods and ninety-eight Presbyteries.

"Our preachers of the Gospel, at present, are in number seventeen hundred and eleven, of whom 1491 are ordained Ministers, and 220 Licentiates. The increase, after deducting deaths and removals, since the last report, has been 98 Ministers and 15 Licentiates.

"Our candidates for the Gospel ministry, who are in various stages of their education, preparatory to their being licensed to preach, are 228, of whom the actual increase the last year has been 33.

"We have two thousand one hundred, and fifty-eight congregations under the care of our sessions and higher judicatories, or eighty-eight more than we had in June, 1829.

"Fifteen thousand, nine hundred and eighty-five communicants were received last year, of whom 11,748 were admitted for the first time, on examination and the profession of their faith; and 4,237 were translated by certificate from one church to another. Our present number of communicants is one hundred and seventy-three thousand, three hundred and twenty-nine; the last yearly increase, above deaths, dismissions, suspensions and removals, having been ten thousand, five hundred and thirteen. This was a less increase than that of 1829, by 5,995 persons.

"The baptisms in our congregations last year were, of adults, 3,225, and of infants, 12,202, giving a total of 15,457, and being 696 less in number than in the preceding year.

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'Forty of our Ministers are pastors of congregational churches, not under the care of any of our Presbyteries.

"Six hundred and thirty of our churches are vacant, having neither pastors nor stated supplies, but depending on occasional preachers which may be sent them by their Presbyteries, or some missionary society. "Our Presbyteries report 3,504 dol. 13c., collected for the payment of the expenses of the Commissioners to the last General Assembly. Of this sum only 1,869 dol. 82c. were forwarded to the Treasurer of the Trustees of the Assembly, to be divided between Commissioners who travelled, in coming to the Assembly, 37,109 miles. The balance of 1,634 dol. 31e. was either paid to Commissioners by the Presbyteries which choose to support ther own Commissioners, without contributing to, or being benefitted by, the General Fund, or remains yet to be transmitted.

The Funds reported by the Presbyteries, as having been collected in all our churches which have made any returns are, for domestic and foreign missions, Jorty-four thousand, nine hundred and fourteen dollars, and seventy-three cents; for theological seminaries, nine thousand, six hundred and forty-three dollars, and twenty-one cents; and for chari

table education purposes, one hundred and twenty-six thousand, one hundred and thirty dollars, and seventy-seven cents. These contributions give a grand total of 184,292 dol. 84c. which exceeds the amount returned to the General Assembly of 1829, by 111,224 dol. 58c.

"While the Presbyterian Church will undoubtedly feel thankful for the honourable instrumentality conferred upon her, in building up the Redeemer's kingdom, it is important that she should remember, that the increase of her Ministers and Licentiates by all means, whether of education or immigration, has exceeded the increase of new churches formed in her connexion only by the number of 25; and that it becomes her to cry mightily unto the Lord of the harvest, that he would greatly multiply spiritual labourers.

"It should also humble us to reflect, that all the charitable funds above reported, if equalized among our communicants, would make their contribution for all the important objects named, little more than one dollar and six cents for each.

"May we not hope that the whole Presbyterian Church will awake, arise, and in the year upon which we have entered, at least double her exertions?

"EZRA STILES ELY, "Stated Clerk of the General Assembly.”

WHETHER AN EXPRESSION TO BELIEVE THE EXPRESS WORDS OF SCRIPTURE, WITHOUT ANY EXPLICATION, BE AN EVIDENCE OF KNOWLEDGE SUFFICIENT FOR CHRISTIAN COMMUNION?

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN. SIR,

IN your last Number, you have invited a discussion of the important question of Subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith, and recommended our Ministers to study it thoroughly. In this recommendation I cordially join. I fear the present generation have not made it a subject of serious investigation. I know that many prejudices against this method of securing the purity of the church, prevail, even among those who are satisfied, that it is their duty to exclude from the ministry such as do not hold the doctrines of the Gospel as set forth in that Confession. The Arian fraternity have so deluged the province with virulent phillipics against "creeds and confessions," as the concentrated essence of Popery, tyranny, and persecution, and have mixed up in the discussion of the question so many extraneous and irrelevant matters, that it is extremely difficult, either to enter on the inquiry in a dispassionate manner, or to ascertain the true nature of the question at issue. I sincerely trust, therefore, that some of our more able and

experienced brethren will be induced, by your offer, to examine and discuss the subject in all its bearings. I hope your talented Correspondent, "CREDO," will resume his excellent papers on the use of Creeds," and take up the several collateral questions, which he noticed in his first papers, as distinguished from the general principle of Creeds, and consequently as not coming within the design of his proposed inquiry.

One of these collateral topics, and a most important one, is, whether the church ought not to be satisfied by a candidate's professing his faith in the words of Scripture, without any human explication? Socinians, and Arians, and all the advocates of the no-creed system, insist that such a profession ought to be satisfactory; and that, to demand any other, is a gross infringement of the right of private judgment, conveys an impious reflection on the perfection of the word of God, and savours strongly of Popish infallibility. Their reasoning, in support of this position, which they pretend they occupy out of a deep veneration for the Bible, is exceeding specious and imposing, and well calculated, when set off by those arts of declamation, which they know well how to employ, to mislead the careless or superficial reader. Many of our laity, even of those who decidedly differ from the doctrinal system of the Arians, I know, have been imposed on by their ingenious sophistry. It would be a matter of some importance, then, that this branch of the extensive question of Creeds should receive a thorough examination; and in order to introduce the subject to the attention of your numerous readers, I beg leave to submit to them the following extract from a work of the celebrated Dr. Isaac Watts, which is but little known in this part of the kingdom, entitled, "The Rational Foundation of a Christian Church." The whole work, though bearing marks in several places of the late latitudinarianism of the excellent author and of his times, is well worthy of a serious perusal. CLERICUS.

"Though what I have already said under the former questions, might be sufficient to answer the present inquiry, yet since in several ages of the church, and especially in times of rising error this controversy has been moved, I shall spend some time in sifting it thoroughly, and endeavour to lead my reader to such a determination of it, as may give a just satisfaction to an honest and humble inquirer.

"By the express words of Scripture, I here intend the words expressed in our English Bible; or the original Greek and Hebrew words trans

lated into some other English words; for it is evident, that the Greek and Hebrew can be of no use to admit plain Christians into English churches.

"When I say without any explication, I mean, without explaining the sense of those scriptural words so translated, by other words or phrases; also without any manner of inference or consequence drawn from those words, though it lie never so plain and open. Without explication signifies, where the person proposing himself to communion assents to the words of Scripture, but refuses to explain in what sense he understands those words; and neither will own or deny any other articles or propositions that may be offered him as terms of communion, though deduced from the words of Scripture with never so much evidence; nor will confess his faith, even in the most important and necessary points, in any other words but those of his Bible.

"When I mention knowledge sufficient for Christian communion, it is not to be understood, as if knowledge were the only thing necessary; for in order to Christian communion, there is also required a professed subjection to all the known duties of christianity, and a conversation answerable to this profession: but the present inquiry is, whether the express words of Scripture are a sufficient test of that knowledge, which is one requisite to communion.

"Now let the question be proposed in the fullest and fairest manner. thus:-Whether a person professing to believe the English Bible itself, or subscribing, assenting to, or repeating any form of words expressly taken out of any English translation, without any manner of explication or inference, can be an evidence of Christian knowledge, sufficient to demand admission to the Lord's Supper, with a Christian church in England?

"The first argument against the confinement of churches, to the express words of Scripture in judging of the knowledge of their communicants, is this, that the greatest and best end that has ever been aimed at in this method, can never be attained by it. The greatest and best design of it is to secure Christians from all imposition of human forms, and from making confessions of faith, drawn up in the words of fallible men, a test of knowledge in the things of God: but this method is no effectual security; for since the inspired words of Greek and Hebrew can be no test of knowledge in English churches, a confession must be made in words of English: now all English words, into which the Scripture is, or may be translated, are the words of fallible men; and no person can be infallibly sure in some difficult and controverted texts, that they do fully and truly express the sense of the sacred originals.

"I grant here, that for private Christians to search their English Bibles, and find the matters of their salvation, there is abundantly sufficient certainty of the truth of every translation in general, that it clearly declares all that is of such importance; because whatsoever is necessary to salvation, is sufficiently contained and revealed, not in one or two, but in various texts of Scripture, though perhaps not always in express words; and in most of these texts learned men generally agree about the mere translation of them: this need create no manner of scruple to sincere and humble Christians in their own knowledge, faith, and practice. The English Bible is gloriously sufficient for the salvation of every humble Christian in England. The English Gospel has saved many thousands, without any skill or knowledge of other languages.

"But in this controverted case, when men assert that a confession in express words of Scripture shall be sufficient to purge any man from the charge of heresy, or give him a right to demand Christian communion, even where his opinions are justly suspected, I must take notice here, that some of these controverted and difficult texts may naturally come into question; such as those which seem to favour any heresies, and those which seem to guard against them. Now in such a case as this, the mere translating of the words oftentimes determines the sense of them. The translation of such a text is a sort of interpretation of the meaning of it; and then, what translation of any particular text shall be the standard of Orthodoxy for all our churches? Shall that which is public and established by the magistrate have this honour? But who gave it this authority over all the churches? Man or God? Shall any private translation of learned and pious men met in council, determine the sense for all communions? But whence had they this power? Much less can the translation of any single person be a public standard.

"Wandering over all nations and churches, and surveying all the various pretences to such a power, I cannot find where to fix the sole of my foot, but on the only Protestant principle, viz.: That as each person, with regard to his own conduct in sacred things, must judge of the sense of Scripture for himself, using the best helps of translators and expositors that he can obtain; so each community using the same helps, must judge for themselves of the sense of the word of God, with regard to their conduct in admitting persons to partake of sacred ordinances among them. Therefore that particular church, whose communion is desired, must determine whether any human words, in which a person's faith is confessed, are Orthodox in their sense, or no; whether they do truly answer the end of such a confession, or no; and include the neces sary articles of the Christian faith; and whether they give sufficient evidence of a man's knowledge in christianity, in order to admit him to their communion.

"Suppose a modern Socinian, or a more Orthodox man, should refuse the common English translation of the first chapter of St. John's Gospel, and confess his faith in the words of his own translation thus: In the beginning was reason, and reason was with God, and reason was God. Suppose an Athanasian refuses the English translation of Rev. iii. 14, where Christ is called the beginning of the creation of God, and says άg ought to be translated the head of God's creation, rest Christ be represented as a creature, and he will put this text into his confession of faith. Suppose an Arian, an Antinomian, an Anthropomorphite, a Pelagian, a Calvinist, each confesses his faith in words of Scripture of his own translation; none of these English words are, in the strictest and properest sense, the words of God, but the words of fallible men; and the particular church, whose commurion is sought, must necessarily interpose with their own sense of Scripture, according to the best advantages they have. They must interpose, I say, so far as to judge, whether any of these persons have so interpreted those controverted texts, in which each chuses to confess his faith, as to express aright what they believe to be the necessary articles of christianity; and though there be no necessity, that a church and all its members should agree in the sense of every text, yet there must be finally such a sense of some Scriptures, given or assented to by the person desiring communion, as may satisfy that church, that he has knowledge sufficient for it.