excuse; but rather let it excite you to more ardent exertions to reach the crown of life.

Be satisfied with nothing less than perpetual progress in holiness. You have but commenced the war; there remaineth yet much land to be possessed; go on from victory to victory, till not an inch of the promised territory shall continue in possession of the enemies of your Lord.

Persevere for a few days, and you will gain the perfect purity and bliss, after which your glowing heart aspires. No sound of clashing arms, no opposing hosts, are in heaven. Its quietude is never invaded by anxiety, or fear. Its holiness is untarnished as its pure light, and enduring as its years. Triumphant termination of conflicts and of wars! Hasten, then blessed day, so long desired by the holy creation.

Adore the grace and faithfulness of your redeeming God. He has not only forgiven the sins of your unregenerate days, but he has borne with your renewed provocations since your conversion-your ingratitude, your coldness, your worldliness, your self-seeking, your manifold abuses of his love. Nor will he leave unfinished the work which he has begun. He will guide you by his counsel, and afterwards receive you to glory. Thus will he keep, bless, save, all the armies of the ransomed, to the praise of his glorious grace forever. What patience, what condescension, what unfainting, boundless love! "O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children of men."

ART. IV.-The General Assembly of 1842.

THE General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, met agreeably to appointment, in the Seventh Presbyterian church, in the city of Philadelphia, on Thursday, the 19th of May, A. D. 1842, and was opened with a sermon by the Rev. R. J. Breckinridge, D. D., moderator of the last Assembly, from 2 Thess. i. 11. The number of delegates in attendance was between one hundred and forty and one hundred and fifty. The Rev. John T. Edgar, D. D., was elected moderator, and Rev. Willis Lord, temporary clerk.

Devotional Exercises.

On motion of Dr. Breckinridge, the following resolutions were adopted, viz.

Resolved, 1. That there shall be preaching before the Assembly every secular evening during its present sessions; and this shall be in lieu of the religious exercises usually set for a particular day, during the Sessions of the Assembly.

2. That it shall be the duty of the Committee on devotional exercises to appoint members of this body to conduct these services from day to day, to designate the respective times and places in which these services shall be held, and to give due notice thereof; and those persons so appointed are hereby required to perform this service, according to their ability.

3. Such houses of worship, in this city and liberties, as may be put at the disposal of the Assembly for this purpose, shall be reported to the aforesaid Committee, and supplied in the manner herein provided.

4. This arrangement shall commence on Monday evening next.

The Nestorian Bishop.

On motion of Dr. Breckinridge, it was

Resolved, That Mar Yohannan, Bishop of the Nestorian Christians, of Ooromiah, in Persia, now on a visit to the United States, and at present in this city, be invited to sit with the Assembly; that a seat be provided for him near the Moderator; and that the Moderator invite him to address the Assembly, at such time as may suit his convenience.

In compliance with this invitation, Mar Yohannan, attended by Rev. Mr. Perkins, missionary of the American Board to Persia, (who also was invited to sit with the Assembly,) entered the house and took his seat by the Moderator. After a short pause, the Bishop rose, and through Mr. Perkins, as his interpreter, addressed the Assembly in the following terms:

"He felt peculiar pleasure in meeting such a body of clergy together as this. He had been delighted to observe the two great characteristics of the clergy, viz. : education and piety. In this he sees the secret of the darkness that prevails in his own country and the light in this. In his country the clergy are able to chaunt merely in an unknown tongue, and not to interpret to the people. The clergy are the eye of the church, and if that eye is blind and dark, both clergy and people will fall into the ditch. Here they are educated, and love and fear God, but in his country it is directly the reverse. He had been deeply impressed since coming here with their lack of knowledge and still greater lack of love to God; for the apostle has justly said that knowledge without love is nothing. He was happy to see the brotherly love that prevails among Christians in this country, and he prays that it may increase more and more.

He also

takes great pleasure in recognizing the clergy of this Assembly as brethren in the Lord and brethren in the ministry of Christ, and he desires their prayers for his people and particularly for the clergy of his country, that they may be truly converted to God and thus be prepared to break unto that famishing people, the bread of life."

After exchanging salutations with members of the Assembly, the venerable Bishop took leave of the body, the House rising and bidding him a respectful and affectionate farewell.

Property of Lane Seminary.

Rev. Mr. McDonald submitted to the Assembly, papers of the Kemper family in Ohio, conveying a large amount of property to the Lane Theological Seminary. These papers, and the whole subject to which they related, were referred to a select committee, consisting of Judge Thompson, Messrs. Breckinridge, Galloway, McDonald, and Fullerton. This committee subsequently made the following report, which was adopted, viz. Resolved, That the Trustees of the General Assembly be requested to inquire into the facts relating to the Lane Seminary, near the city of Cincinnati, and if they find that the proviso in the deed of the 9th of December, 1829, from Elnathan Kemper, and others, to the Trustees of the Lane Seminary has been disregarded by the appointment of "Professors and teachers who are not members of the Presbyterian church, under the care of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church in the United States of America," that they take advice of counsel learned in the laws of Ohio, and if they shall be advised that the laws of the state furnish an adequate remedy in the case, that they institute the proper proceedings to enforce the observance of the said provisos. It was further Resolved, That a copy of the aforesaid resolutions be transmitted to the Board of Trustees of the General Assembly, together with the copy of the deed referred to, and the other documents in the case.

On a subsequent day the Rev. William Chester moved a reconsideration of this vote. The reconsideration was ably and strenuously opposed by Dr. Breckinridge and others, who urged among other considerations the following arguments. The Rev. James Kemper wished to appropriate a farm for the purpose of a Theological Manual Labour Seminary. His own farm not answering his purpose, he negotiated for one in possession of his son, and having purcha

sed it, applied it as above specified. This accounts for the deed being in the name of Elnathan Kemper, the son, who in consequence has by some been supposed the donor. This property, which is in the borders of the city of Cincinnati, consists of seventy acres of land, and is supposed to be worth seventy or eighty thousand dollars. According to the terms of the deed, the property was put in trust for a Theological Seminary, with the proviso that the professors should be in connexion with the Presbyterian church, under the care of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church in the United States of America. Mr. Kemper and his sons being Old School Presbyterians, there can be no doubt of their intention to found an orthodox Presbyterian Institution. Subsequent to this, Mr. Lane, a Baptist, as a thank offering for some successes in business, offered to his own denomination twenty thousand dollars, on condition that they would apply it to the establishment of a Theological Seminary, which they failing to do, he made the same offer to the Presbyterians, which being accepted, the sum, or so much of it as was actually received, was appropriated to the erection of buildings on the land given by the Kempers. The present professors of Lane Seminary have not the sanction of the General Assembly, and therefore the condition. of the trust has been violated. Neither did Mr. Lane give his money to a body of Presbyterians, who had no organized existence at the time of the gift, so that the possession of the property of the New-School party is in plain contravention of the terms on which the property was contributed. The New School have, indeed, endowed the Professorships, and the interest only, and not the principal of these endowments has been paid. But these funds are entirely distinct from the property which it is now proposed to enquire after.

It was strongly urged that as the Assembly sat still and saw the trust created, there results a moral obligation on them to see it faithfully executed. If the deed conveyed the property to be used for the cause of Christ, under the direction of this church, it is our duty to our Lord and Master; our duty to the good men who gave the property; to the heirs of those men who have now called our attention to the subject; it is a duty from which we must not shrink,

* See Presbyterian, June 4, 1842.

to go forward and assert the claim of the Presbyterian church to the control of that Seminary.

On the other hand it was urged, that the Lane Seminary does not belong to this Assembly. Possession was a prima facie evidence of ownership. The New School had been in possession of that institution from its foundation; and had at least in great part contributed the funds by which it was carried on. Besides, it was generally understood, that in 1837, when an amicable separation of the two parties in our church was attempted, the committee of five from either side appointed to fix the terms of such separation, agreed on all matters in relation to the institutions and property of the church. It was conceded that the institutions in the hands of the New School party should belong to them, and those in the hands of the Old School should belong to them. Though these terms were not accepted, and are not now formally binding on either party, yet we shall certainly have the appearance of claiming, what we once acknowledged did not belong to us, if we now attempt to disturb the New School in the possession of that institution.

In the second place it was denied that we had any trust to execute in the case. The property in question was, in the first instance, offered to the Assembly and urged upon their acceptance, but declined; the Assembly preferring to locate their western Seminary at Allegany town. Besides, the deed conveys the property to trustees for certain purposes and on certain conditions, and provides, in the case the contemplated seminary should fail or become extinct, the proceeds of the property should go to the American Bible Society, the American Tract Society, the American Colonization Society, and perhaps one other of the national societies; and in case of either of these societies ceasing to exist, then the General Assembly was to designate to what benevolent object the money was to be applied. It is obvious, therefore, that we as an Assembly, have neither interest nor responsibility in the matter. If the trustees violate their trust, it belongs to one of these societies, or to the subscribers to the Institution, to take measures to secure their faithful performance of the conditions of the deed.

It was further urged, that we had hitherto acted on the defensive. It was the New School that had brought suit against us for the possession of property, which they had virtually acknowledged did not belong to them. That this suit had been a great scandal to religion; and we should