standing it has borne the burden of theological education for nearly thirty years in this region, yet is represented by but one director in a Board composed of forty members.

And for these reasons this Synod declines to recommend this Seminary, as now organized, to the churches under our care, preferring to give our support to other seminaries of the Church for the present.

The following protest against this action was presented and admitted to record:

We protest against the action of Synod on the subject of the Seminary for the Northwest, for the following reasons:

1. No further action is needed.

2. It is irregular for the inferior judicatories to take further action on a question which, after reference by the parties concerned, has reached final action in the supreme court of our Church.

Signed,
W. L. BRECK,
J. E. CAMPBELL,

G. R. MCILROY,

DAVID STEVENSON,

We protest on the first ground named.

A. C. ALLEN,

W. STEWART,

John MitcheLL,

JOHN F. SMITH.

WM. H. MOORE,

DAVID M. STEWART.

SYNOD OF NORTHERN INDIANA.

The Committee on the Minutes of the General Assembly, of which Brother E. W. Wright, of Delphi, was chairman, presented a preamble and resolution in regard to the action of the Assembly in the organization of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest. After some discussion the following substitute, offered by James M. Ray, of Indianapolis, was adopted, viz. :

"In reference to the action of the General Assembly in organizing the Theological Seminary of the Northwest, as shown by the minutes, we feel constrained to state, lest our silence be misunderstood, that such action was not in such consonance with our views and judgment on this subject, as to leave this Synod under any other obligations or relations to the Seminary at Chicago, than it sustains to any other seminary under the care of the Assembly.".

The vote on this action stood twenty-eight to thirteen. The negative voters presented the following protest, which was admitted to record with

out answer :

We, the undersigned, members of the Synod of Northern Indiana, beg leave to protest against the action of the Synod this day in regard to the Theological Seminary of the Northwest, for the following reasons, to wit:

1st. Because the General Assembly located, and elected Directors and Professors of the Seminary, as was requested by this Synod one year ago. 2d. Because we believe that the Synod was not called upon to say anything upon the subject in the premises.

3d. Because we believe that this action will be used for party purposes, and thus to the injury of the Seminary.

4th. Because we fully believe that this action tends to destroy the peace of the Church, and the injury of the cause of Christ.

5th. Because we believe that the work now committed to this seminary has such a bearing upon the interest of the kingdom of the Redeemer, that we feel constrained solemnly to protest against any action which will tend to hinder it from doing the work committed to it by the General Assembly.

J. C. BROWN,

H. L. VANNUYS,
S. P. ROBBINS,

H. K. HENNIGH,

W. P. KOUTZ,

S. N. SHULTZ,
N. S. PALMER,
T. WHALLON,
JOSEPH ALLEN,

E. W. FISK,

A. Y. MOORE,

B. MCCLURE,

THOMAS P. GORDON.

SYNOD OF ILLINOIS.

The Committee to prepare a minute in relation to the Seminaries at Danville and Chicago, reported, and the motion to adopt was laid on the table.

The following resolutions were then introduced :

:

Resolved, That when this Synod agreed to transfer the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest to the General Assembly, it was in the full confidence that the organization of the Seminary would be such as would be conformable to the known views and wishes of the great body of the ministers and churches in the field immediately concerned; and it is with deep regret, that the Synod has learned that its just and reasonable expectations in this respect have not been realized, but that the known, and clearly expressed wishes of a large majority of the brethren in the Synods of the Northwest, have been disregarded.

Resolved, That, while the Synod disavows the imputation to the Assembly of an intention to disregard the rights and expectations of the Synods immediately concerned, this Synod does hereby enter its earnest dissent from the present organization, and declines to recommend the Seminary, as now organized, to the support of the churches.

A motion was made to lay the above resolutions on the table, upon which the ayes and noes were called with the following result: Ayes twenty-nine; noes twenty.

After these resolutions were laid upon the table, the following were adopted :

Resolved, That Synod has heard the statements of Professor Yerkes and Rev. F. N. Ewing, representing the Theological Seminary at Danville, and the Seminary of the Northwest, with great pleasure.

Resolved, That we rejoice in the prosperity of these Seminaries respectively, and commend them to the confidence of our churches.

A protest, signed by twenty members, was presented against the action of Synod in adopting the above resolutions.

PRESBYTERY OF CINCINNATI.

The following paper was passed with reference to the Theological Seminary :

"Whereas, the Synod of Cincinnati, with which this Presbytery stands

connected, did, at its late meeting at Hillsborough, declare that it has no peculiar local interest in the Theological Seminary at Chicago;' and whereas this action of the Synod leaves each Presbytery at liberty, and lays upon them to some extent the necessity of deciding with which of the Seminaries of the Church they will co-operate; and whereas, there are many reasons which indicate that the Seminaries at Allegheny and Danville can and will answer our purposes at present better than any other; therefore

"Resolved, That this Presbytery commend the Theological Seminaries at Allegheny and Danville to the liberality and patronage of the churches under our care, as institutions entitled to the confidence of the Church, and well adapted to train up a ministry suited to the wants of that portion of the West within which they are located."

Against this action the following protest was presented by Dr. Slack, viz. :

"Protest of the undersigned against the decision of Presbytery on the last resolutions presented by the Committee on the Minutes of General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, referring to the Theological Seminaries.

"1. We protest against the introduction of a resolution on Theological Seminaries; because your protestants do not see that such a resolution was called for; either in this connection or by the state of the case.

"2. We protest; because in this Presbytery considerable work was done to establish a Northwest Seminary under Synodical government, and the voice of the Church transferred that Seminary to the General Assembly of the same Church, and the resolution referred to seems indirectly to operate against the success of such an establishment.

"3. By the words 'liberality and patronage,' directed by said resolution to the Allegheny and Danville Seminaries, a still more invidious and exceptionable course is taken against the Northwest Seminary, than in the former items of protest. Against this part of the action we also protest.

(Signed)

"ELIJAH SLACK,

"JAMES BLACK,
"S. C. LOGAN,
"JOHN D. THORPE."

In regard to all this action against the Seminary, we have a few remarks to make.

1. In the first place, this action is the undertow, produced by the preceding storm. New Albany seems to have been providentially set aside as a location, first by Danville, and secondly by Chicago. Our own original preferences were for St. Louis, as the best centre for a Seminary, considered in reference to the present and to the future. We believe now, that we were mistaken. For Providence seems against us. Our New Albany brethren have shown much feeling on the subject-which was perfectly natural, and which we do not undertake to condemn, so far as there was any rational cause to give it being. We confess, that we had no idea of the extent of the dissatisfaction with the Assembly arrangements, until it was exhibited in the recent action of the Synods. The strength of the undertow shows the violence of the storm.

2. This action of the Synods, in opposition to the Seminary, will strike the members of the last Assembly with great surprise. The Synods had surrendered the Seminary to the General Assembly, and had requested that body to take its oversight in all particulars. The Assembly consented to do so; and having perfected the plan, proceeded to the election of Professors. This was all done in good faith, and the Assembly filled the Professorships according to its best judgment. For ourselves, we thought, and still think, that it would have been wiser to have yielded two of the professorships to the nomination of the brethren of the minority. But the Assembly thought otherwise; and its decisions, it seems to us, ought, under the circumstances, to have been acquiesced in. The following is the paper by which the Board of Trustees, agreeably to the instructions of the Synods, agreed to transfer the Seminary to the General Assembly:

Whereas, The Board of Directors of "The Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest" did, in accordance with the vote of the Synods, heretofore having the control thereof, present to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, at its sessions held at Indianapolis, in the State of Indiana, in May, 1859, a resolution previously adopted by the said Board, in the following words, to wit:

"Resolved, That the Constitution of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest be and is hereby so amended that the direction of the said Seminary-the right to determine the number of Directors and Professors, and to appoint the same, and all the powers which have heretofore been vested in the Synods, shall be and hereby are transferred to and vested in the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, provided that this direction be accepted by the Assembly.

"And whereas, The said Board of Directors did at the same time present to the said General Assembly an overture, praying that the said General Assembly would accept the control and direction of the said Seminary, in accordance with the terms of the said resolution," &c. &c.

3. The action of the opposing Synods appears to us to be disrespectful to the Professors. These brethren, two of them from a distance, and all of them elected with great unanimity by the Assembly, accepted office under the implied acquiescence, by the Synods, in all the Assembly's arrangements. Nothing was said in the Assembly, so far as we remember, against the election of the incumbents, with one exception. No protest was offered, no dissatisfaction expressed. And yet the election of Professors, which was one of the main reasons of the transfer to the Assembly, is no sooner over, than the Synods, at their first meeting, openly find fault with the Seminary, as organized by the Assembly. If the Professors elect had been made acquainted with the state of feeling on the part of their brethren, it is quite probable that they

would not have accepted office. Was it altogether courteous thus to proceed against them?

We, by no means, charge the Synods with an intentional act of discourtesy. Far from it. We have great confidence in our Synodical brethren; but we believe that they have done a thing which none of them, if elected Professors, would have considered equitable and proper.

4. A more suicidal course could not have been pursued towards the Seminary, as an important and useful institution in the Church. Had not all these Synods expressed a great desire to have a Seminary in the Northwest? Did they not themselves originate the plan, the Synods of Indiana and Cincinnati taking the lead, and working most industriously to secure its accomplishment, through the active agency of distinguished brethren, whom we ourselves met at several of the Synods in 1856? And now what do we see? These same Synods disowning their interest in the Seminary, and practically withdrawing all efficient co-operation in the management of its affairs. Is this action calculated to build up, or to pull down, an institution, deemed so important to the interests of the Northwest? We can scarcely realize the fact that our brethren could willingly pursue a course so detrimental, as it seems to us, to the interests of the cause of Christ within their own bounds.

But we forbear to pursue the subject. We have made these remarks with sorrow. We are impartial spectators, as we think, and uninfluenced by local or personal predilections. We count honoured friends on both sides of this question. We have no party views to gratify. We have always taken a deep interest in the establishment of a Seminary in the Northwest-have written several articles in its favour, and have pursued a straightforward course in advancing its interests under all circumstances. We still hope for the best. Providence is a mighty settler of controversies; and Grace heals personal alienations. We look forward a few years; and behold! the Northwest Seminary is doing a great work on a great scale! Breaches are healed; brethren see eye to eye; large numbers of students are pursuing their theological studies; and God is glorified in the peace, unity, and prosperity of the churches of the Northwest.

SYNOD OF NEW JERSEY ON THE SUPPORT OF THE

MINISTRY.

VARIOUS Synods and other Judicatories of the Presbyterian Church have taken action, lately, on the support of the Christian ministry. The action of the Synod of New Jersey seems to us to be as effectual a way of promoting the object as any that we have

seen: