The General Assembly. By Prof. L. H. Atwater, D. D. [pp. 424-442]

Tlt e General Assembly.
had far exceeded the $5,000,000 aimed at, and that if all were
reckoned in which is fairly due to the momentum of this great
effort, whether professedly or intentionally included in it or
not, it will closely approximate $10,000,000, also gave shape
and impulse in many minds to some plans of Benevolence and
Finance which found much favor in the Assembly. It was
very natural that it should be thought that the concentration
which had been so successful in swelling the Memorial Fund,
would be equally successful with reference to the stated charities and contributions of the Church. A large majority of
the Assembly, however, judged that.this was straining the
analogy too far. For reasons which we will soon give, we
believe they were right.
The Report of the Commnittee of Twenty-one, composed of
some of the most sagacious and public-spirited men in the
church, had for its salient points several recommendations
designed to "simplify, consolidate and unify the various benevolent operations of the Church." Chief among these were
a General Comnmissiqn composed of representatives of the
Boards and Synods to superintend all; the reduction of the
Boards to four, viz.: the Foreign Board to conduct all Foreign
evangelization; the "Board for Home work to discharge the
duties now assigned to the present Boards of Homne Missions,
Education, and Church Erection, and to the Committees on
Freedmen and Ministerial Relief." The Board of Publication
"to be conducted strictly as a business operation;" and a
Board of Benevolence and Finance to be "composed largely
of business men of acknowledged skill in thle mnanagement of
financial affairs. With one Treasurer it shall have charge of
the funds for the Home and Foreign work of the Chiurch. It
shall meet the drafts of each of the Boards so far as funds have
been received for it, or as mnay be directed by the General
Commission. It shall alsb be its duty to promote throughout
the church the regular and systematic consecration of property
to the Lord... The Boards of Foreign and Home Work,
together with that of Benevolence and Finance shall be located in New York, and the Board of Publication shall be located in Philadelphia." The rest of the report recommended
the detailed measures, whereby through Synods, Presbyteries,
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