correspondence between the two churches, which was referred to the Committee on Correspondence.

The following report was received from one of the members appointed by the Synod to attend the last meeting of the Synod of the German Reformed Church.

The undersigned, in behalf of the Delegates to the General Synod of the German Reformed Church would respectfully report, that the Rev. Jacob Schoonmaker and himself attended the last meeting of the Synod of the above-named church at Hagerstown, Md., and were most cordially received, and treated with Christian kindness and courtesy. Nothing of a special nature touching the subject of the correspondence between the two churches occurred.

THOMAS M. STRONG.

The Rev. William B. Sprague, D. D.,appeared, presented his credentials, and took his seat as a Corresponding Delegate from the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church.

Resolved, That the Delegates to the Churches with which the Synod holds correspondence, be in future chosen by ballot, from a nomination of double the number of names, to be made by the Committee on Correspondence.

The following report was received from the members appointed to attend the last meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church.

The undersigned beg leave to report that they attended the late meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and that they were cordially received.

June 8, 1831.

ELI BALDWIN,
ABRM. VAN NEST.

The Committee on Correspondence reported, and their report was adopted, and is as follows:

The Committee on Correspondence beg leave to submit, for the consideration of Synod, the following report :

Your Committee have had submitted unto them the minutes of the Associate Reformed Synod, of New York, of the German Reformed Church, and two others, containing a correspondence between the General Synod of the Protestant Reformed Dutch Church of North

America and ministers, consistories, and members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France.

1. In relation to the aforesaid friendly correspondence with the Church of France, your Committee recommend its continuance by the following mode, viz. :

1. Resolved, That the aforesaid letters be filed.

2. Resolved, That the Rev. Gerardus A. Kuypers, D. D., and Thomas De Witt, D. D., be appointed a Committee to draft and forward, as soon as may be, under the signature of the President and Stated Clerk, a letter to the Protestant Reformed Church of France.

3. In relation to the Associate Reformed Synod of New York, your Committee ascertain from their minutes, that the plan of correspondence proposed by this Church was referred to a Committee, favorably reported on by the same, and laid on the table for more mature deliberation of the Synod.

4. In relation to the German Reformed Church, your Committee find nothing on their minutes claiming your attention save the appointment of delegates to said body.

5. No minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church have been received. Your Committee recommend the appointment of delegates to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and to the German Reformed Church as usual.

By Order. W. ELTINGE, Chairman.

The Committee on Correspondence having reported a nomination of a double number of persons from whom to elect Delegates to the corresponding churches, the Synod proceeded to the election of the same, when the following were chosen, viz. :—

To the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, Rev. John Ludlow, D. D., and the Elder Samuel Kuen, Primarii; Rev. Isaac Ferris, and the Elder, Christopher Van Arsdalen, Secundi.

To the Synod of the German Reformed Church, Rev. Gilbert R. Livingston, D. D., and James Romeyn, Primarii; Rev. Jacob C. Sears, and Douw Van Olinda, Secundi.

The minutes of the last session of the United Associate Synod of Scotland having been submitted to the Synod, it was resolved, that the Rev. J. B. Hardenbergh, J. Van Vechten, and J. Murphy, and

the Elder P. D. Vroom, Jun., be a Committee to consider the propriety of opening a correspondence with the said church.

The Committee reported, and their report was adopted, and is as follows:

The Committee to whom it was referred to report on the expediency of opening a correspondence with the United Associate Synod of Scotland, beg leave to present for the adoption of Synod, the following resolutions :

Resolved, That it is deemed expedient to open a correspondence with the United Associate Synod of Scotland.

Resolved, That the Rev. Wm. C. Brownlee, D. D., and the Rev. Jacob Brodhead, D. D., be appointed a committee to prepare a suitable communication, to be signed by the President and Stated Clerk of the Synod, and forwarded, together with the minutes of this Synod, to the said Associate Synod of Scotland.

Respectfully submitted,

P. D. VROOM, Jun., Chairman.

Resolved, That the Elder Peter D. Vroom, Jun,. be added to the committee to draft a letter to the United Associate Synod of Scotland.

ARTICLE VI.

Synodical Reports of the State of the Churches.

Resolved, That Prayer Meetings be attended in this place at the hour of 6 o'clock in the morning, during the Session of Synod.

Resolved, That the Rev. C. C. Cuyler, D. D., Peter I. Van Pelt, and Jacob Van Vechten, be a Committee to make arrangements for conducting the religious exercises of the Synod during their Session.

In conformity with a standing regulation, the Synod spent a part of the afternoon of the first day of the session in religious exercises, conducted agreeably to a plan previously reported by the committee of arrangements.

The Committee on the state of Religion reported, and their report was adopted, and is as follows:

The Committee appointed to draw up the Synodical Report, submit the following :—

The interests of the Church of God are engraven upon the Saviour's heart-for her deliverance and salvation he has offered up his atoning blood-for her increase and extension, for her prosperity and glory, he has left her the rich legacy of his gospel; he has instituted the ministry of reconciliation, and the ordinances of his grace; and he has bestowed upon her the promise and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The moral image of God has been impressed upon the hearts of all his people-the Christian character is always radically the same-the spirit of the gospel is uniform in its nature and operations-it partakes of the mind of Jesus Christ the great Head of the Church, and it accords with the elevated and heaven-born design of his mission into our guilty world. Its language is, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning; peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces; for Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth."

The desires, the hopes, the expectations of the Church of God, shall not be disappointed. The purposes of Jehovah are as certain and abiding as the throne upon which he sits. His truth, his promises, his wisdom, his power and his grace, are pledged for her preservation and for the security and advancement of her exalted interests. Happy are they who are door-keepers in the house of the Lord, and who with humble and holy hearts are devoted to his service and to the service of his Church.

Jesus Christ has been

God has not left himself without a witness. exalted a Prince and Saviour to give repentance and remission of sins; and as while he was on earth, so now, the works which he does bear testimony for him. His promises have been fulfilled-the gates of hell have not prevailed against his Church. She remains, as she always has been, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and the glory of every land where she has unfurled her banners. The age in which we live is not only an age of prayer, but of action and of great blessings. Many have desired to hear those things which we hear, and have not heard them, and to see those things which we see, and have not seen them.

The church distinctively which we represent, although comparatively circumscribed, we trust is not the least that exists among the various departments of the moral and spiritual vineyard of our Lord. We believe that in the great characteristic features of our faith we hold the doctrine which has been delivered to the saints; and this it is fundamentally which constitutes the life, the beauty, the excellency, and the glory of the Church. The truth of God changes not. We wish no other gospel than the gospel of Jesus Christ; and although it is an old gospel, it remains equally suited to the wants of the Church and to the necessities of sinful and dying men. It is not by the eloquence of reason, nor by the speculations of misnamed philosophy, but by the simplicity of divine truth, and by the foolishness of gospel preaching, that God saves them that believe. Destroy the truth of God, and let error take its place, and the foundations of the Church are gone; her glory has departed from her, and desolation and death follow in the train. Occupying as we do, a place of happy medium between the extremes of Arminianism on the one hand, and Antinomianism on the other, we exalt the name of Jehovah and humble the pride of human sufficiency, ascribing the undivided glory of salvation to the sovereignty and omnipotence of divine grace, while at the same time we maintain the personal and solemn responsibilities of men, press the obligations of the divine law, exhibit the motives to repentance and holy living, absolve the throne of God from all blame, and present the whole charge of transgression at the door of the sinner's heart and conscience. For this, for the preservation of his truth among us, we would, in this place, raise up our Ebenezer of gratitude and praise unto him who is both the Shepherd and the great Prophet in Zion.

Nor is this all which it is our privilege to say. The providence of God is exhibiting the evidence that he has not left his truth in our day without the seal of his Holy Spirit-the intelligence, the conscience, the affections, the sympathies of the Church, are constrained to benevolent and evangelical actions. In our Sabbath Schools, in the extensive and systematic circulation of religious tracts, in the rapid and wide spread dissemination of the entire oracles of God without note or comment, in the zealous and increasing effort which is made in the cause of foreign, and domestic missions, the Church of Jesus Christ is carrying into effect the commission of her Lord,