The Rev. James Proudfit was also educated for the ministry at Abernethy. His first settlement was at Pequa, Pennsylvania. After labouring here upwards of twenty years, he was called to Salem, as the successor of Mr. Clark, where he remained until his decease, in 1802. For some years before his death, his son, the Rev. Dr. Alex. Proudfit, was associated with him in the pastoral charge. He was one of the first Presbyterian ministers settled north of Troy, and for many years he was abundant in labours over a wide extent of country; not a few of the largest congregations in Washington county having been founded by him. He published nothing, but he was eminent for his holiness. A brother minister who had long known him, once said to his son, that "he was the holiest man he ever knew." So great was his acquaintance with the Bible, that he was often called by his friends the concordance. Of the Covenanting brethren, Messrs. Dobbin, Lind, and Cuthbertson, we regret that we are unable to give any certain information.

In this connexion it may not be out of place to give a few notices respecting the principal localities of the Associate Reformed Church, in these early days of her history. The earliest settlements were in Pennsylvania, within the Cumberland Valley. From these, colonies went forth to various parts of the United States. Numbers emigrated to west Pennsylvania, but in what year, we are unable to state, we only know that these emigrants formed some of the earliest Presbyterian churches west of the Alleghany mountains. Some of the first settlers in Pennsylvania remained but a short time, and then removed to the upper parts of South Carolina and Georgia. The Old Church in Philadelphia, was formed by a few pious Scotsmen, who at first met together as a praying society. The Old Church in New York was formed by the separation of the Scottish members from the Wall Street Church in 1751, in consequence of changes in the forms of worship, and the neglect of Presbyterian order. In Orange county, a colony of Irish Presbyterians was established under the auspices of Col. Clinton, the founder of the Clinton family, so early as 1734; from these have sprung the various Associate Reformed churches in that county. Others were induced to settle on the Colden and Campbell patents. The first settlement in Washington county, was made by Dr. Clark; his congregation emigrated from Ireland about the year 1760: one part going to Carolina, another portion accompanying him to Washington county. To this day, this county is eminently Scottish in its religious peculiarities. It may be added, that the Associate Reformed Church was one of the first to plant the standard of the Gospel in the State of Kentucky; and at the close of the last century the prospect of increase in that commonwealth was highly promising. These prospects were, however, soon darkened and destroyed by dissensions among the ministers. At the beginning of the present century, the Lexington Academy was founded under the auspices of the Associate Reformed Church. It was incorporated by the legislature of the State, and received from the same source the very handsome endowment of 4000 acres of land. Had the affairs of this institution, and of the church, been managed with ordinary prudence, there can be little doubt that it would now have been among the best colleges in the great valley of the West. But the opportunity was madly thrown away, and now it is irrecoverably gone. All the subsequent efforts of the church to extend herself in Kentucky, have been attended by no encouraging results.

In addition to these early settlements of the church, in the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Carolina, and Kentucky, it should be mentioned that there were some in New Hampshire and Maine. Mr. Greenleaf gives some notices of them in his Ecclesiastical History of Maine. They were associated under the name of the Presbytery of Londonderry. The region, however, was unfavourable to the growth of Presbyterianism; so soon as the older generation was removed, their descendants became "like the people of the land," and degenerated into independency, though the name of Presbytery was still kept up. The consequence was, that the Synod in 1802 passed the harsh and unwise act, declaring this Presbytery no longer a portion of the Associate Reformed Church.

We now resume the history of the Synod. As before stated, it was constituted at Philadelphia, in 1782, and was then composed of three Presbyteries, and numbered in all fourteen ministers. One of the first acts of the Synod, after its organization, was, the adoption of a series of articles, which were afterwards published under the very unsuitable name of the Constitution of the Associate Reformed Church: among the people it was known as "the Little Constitution." These articles were vehemently attacked both by the Covenanters (in Scotland) and the Seceders here; yet they deserve attention as showing the ardent attachment of the men of that day to "the truth and peace;" they furnish striking evidence that they possessed a truly catholic spirit, and were eminently free from that mean and narrow sectarian temper which has often been displayed by those who make the loudest professions of universal charity. Our limits forbid the insertion of these articles; and we shall only say in reference to them, that the spirit of charity and moderation which they breathe, has been characteristic of the Associate Reformed Church from that day to this; in no case has she attempted to profit by the dissensions of her neighbours, and with the single and noble exception of the Moravians, no other denomination in this country has ever displayed less sectarianism than she. Whether these articles were designed to serve only a temporary purpose or not, can hardly be determined at this distance of time; the fact, however, is, that they were ultimately laid aside for a fuller exposition of the church's faith-a measure that was probably owing to the uneasiness created in the minds of some weak but sincere persons, by the incessant and virulent attacks of the enemies of the union. The final result was, that the Westminster Confession and the Catechism, after a careful revision, at several successive meetings of Synod, in the articles relating to the power of the magistrate, were published in one volume, in 1799, under the title of "The Constitution and Standards of the Associate Reformed Church in North America," and they have continued to be such, down to the present day.

The ground occupied by the United Church was the same as that held by the Church of Scotland. The testimonies of Covenanters and Seceders were approved so far as they did not conflict; but the simple standards of the Church of Scotland were adopted as the standards of the church in the United States, only with a slight change of their language on the subject before named. And even this change amounted to no more than the incorporation in the Confession of the very sentiments expressed by the Church of Scotland on this head, in her adopting act of 1646. The Directory for Worship and the Propositions of Church Government remained unchanged; the Rules of Discipline and Forms of Process were not so much altered as drawn out into a regular system, the want of which the Church of Scotland has long felt; instead of rules she has only precedents for her guide in matters of discipline. In this connexion it may be mentioned, that various doctrinal acts were passed by the Synod, which were intended to oppose particular errors prevalent at the time. Of these, the acts on Faith and Justification, written by the late Dr. John M. Mason; on Original Sin, by the Rev. Robert Forrest, and on the Atonement, by Dr. Robert Proudfit, are very valuable expositions of Scripture truth, and have long been highly prized.

For twenty years after the union, the growth of the church was very rapid; in fact, the demand for labourers in all parts of the land, New England excepted, was far greater than the Synod could possibly supply. This rapidity of increase led the church, in 1803, to adopt a measure-under the influence of Dr. Mason, of New York

which was altogether premature, and ultimately exerted a most disastrous influence upon her fortunes; this was the division of the church into four Provincial Synods of New York, Pennsylvania, Scioto, and the Carolinas, under a representative General Synod. The size of the denomination did not warrant this measure; the provincial Synods, held at great expense and trouble, found that they had no business to transact worth the name, and in a few years ceased to assemble; the affairs of the church fell into the hands of a few, and thus jealousies were engendered, the evil effects of which are felt to this day.

In 1800 it was resolved to take steps for the establishment of a Theological Seminary, as the only means of supplying the increasing demand for ministers; and in the meantime an effort was to be made to obtain a supply of ministers from Scotland. For these purposes, Dr. John M. Mason was sent as the agent of the church to Great Britain in 1802; he succeeded in obtaining funds to the amount of about $6000, the largest part of which was expended in the purchase of a most valuable library; and on his return he was accompanied by five Scottish ministers, several of whom still survive. At the meeting of Synod in 1804, the plan of the Seminary was carefully framed; Dr. Mason was chosen Professor of Theology; and the sessions of the Seminary began in the autumn of the same year, in the city of New York. This was the first Seminary established in the United States, and for many years the most famous seat of theological learning in our country. The chief credit of its foundation, and especially of the admirable plan on which it was based, belongs to Dr. Mason. It is the model according to which all the other Seminaries of the Associate Reformed Church have since been framed. Of the character of Dr. Mason, his unrivalled eloquence, his rich and varied scholarship, his immense popularity, it is hardly necessary to speak. He is one of the very few American clergymen, whose fame is as bright in Britain as in the United States. Yet it is melancholy to reflect that his fame, once so great, is rapidly passing away, for he has left no durable monument behind him. The Seminary might have been such, but he, unfortunately for it, as well as for himself, undertook too much, and besides, lacked that indomitable perseverance which never rests until it has fully attained its objects. The Seminary which he founded, exists indeed in another place, but on the spot of its nativity it is now almost unknown.

Dr. Mason's writings deserve a high rank in the theological literature of this country; but we have reason to believe that they are in no respect what they would have been, had the energies of his mind

been concentrated upon his duties as a theological professor. His earliest work, which was published about five years after his admission to the ministry, was upon the subject of Frequent Communion. For many years, in fact since the days of prelatic persecution, the Scottish churches were accustomed to observe the sacrament of the Lord's Supper not more than twice a year, and in some cases only once. Besides the usual preparation sermon, the sacrament Sabbath was invariably preceded by a fast day on the Thursday, and succeeded by a thanksgiving day upon the Monday. Palpably opposed as this was to the spirit of the Directory, which declares that "the Lord's Supper is frequently to be observed," the church had become so wedded to these "days," that it was deemed by many almost a profanation of the sacrament to celebrate it without them. Dr. Mason set himself to oppose these additions to the New Testament Passover, as he well knew that its frequent observance was impossible so long as they were continued; his "Letters," addressed to the members of the Associate Reformed Church, were the means of working the desired change in many congregations, though in some parts of the church "the days" are observed even to the present time. But the great work of Dr. Mason is his masterly treatise on "Catholic Communion," published in 1816. The circumstances which gave rise to this important work are given in the work itself, and need not be here repeated. It is a singular coincidence that its appearance was contemporaneous with that of the treatise of Mr. Robert Hall of Leicester on the same subject, and in which substantially the same principles are defended. Previous to the appearance of Dr. Mason's work, the practice of the Associate Reformed Church, in common with the other branches of the Scottish Church in this country, had been that of exclusive communion. We say that such was her practice, and it furnished a sad illustration how the practice of a church which glories in her orthodoxy, may be in palpable contradiction to her own standards. In the days of the Westminster Assembly the doctrine of exclusive communion was condemned, especially by Baillie and Rutherford, two of the greatest lights of their age, as one of the peculiar errors of the Independents, who would neither commune with other Christians, nor allow others to commune with them. The Confession of the Scottish Church asserts in the plainest terms the duty of communing with all, in every place, who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, as God in his providence gives the opportunity. But at an early period in the history of the Scottish Secession an unchristian spirit of exclusiveness began to manifest itself; new terms of communion were framed, which had