RULING ELDERS. Allen, Hugh TOTAL, 20. The Special Committee on Reunion, to which was also referred a communication of the General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church with reference to holding a convention of all the Presbyterian churches in the United States in September next, recommend that this whole subject be referred to the Reunion Committee of Fifteen appointed by the last Assembly and continued by this, to make such arrangements as it may deem desirable. Adopted. On motion, the Moderator appointed J. E. Rockwell, D.D., of New York Synod, in the place of John M. Krebs, D.D., whose protracted illness prevents him from attending to the duties thereof. (Dr. Krebs subsequently died; see his memoir in this volume, page 110. On motion, the Assembly was dissolved, and another General Assembly would meet in the Second Presbyterian Church, Albany, New York, May 21, 1868. A. T. MCGILL, D.D., W. E. SCHENCK, D.D., P. STANDS FOR PASTOR; S. S., STATED SUPPLY; F. M., FOREIGN MISS.; PRF., PROFESSOR; EDT., EDITOR; PRES., PRESIDENT; AGT., AGENT; COLP., COLPORTEUR; CHPN., CHAPLAIN; W. C., WITHOUT CHARGE. TABLE GIVING THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO HAVE DIED DURING THE YEAR. In Memoriam. "YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL: FOR THOU ART WITH ME; THY ROD AND THY STAFF, THEY COMFORT ME."-Psalm xxiii. 4. BELLAMY, THOMAS-The son of Rev. William and Sarah (Peckworth) Bellamy, was born in Great Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England, in 1804. He was educated under the care of his father, and was licensed and ordained by Black River Congregational Association in 1831. During his ministry he was pastor of the churches in Copenhagen, Evans' Mills, Penfield, Alexandria and Charlotte, all in the State of New York. He died whilst laboring in Charlotte, Monroe county, N. Y., May 1, 1867, of consumption. He married Miss Maria M. Bailey, who, with nine children, survives him. BURTIS, D.D., ARTHUR-The son of Arthur and Elizabeth (Palmer) Burtis, was born in New York City, October 25, 1807. Surrounded by affluence, his opportunities for improvement were numerous. His father was a prominent citizen of New York, long a member of the Common Council of that city, when the position of "alderman" was conferred upon men who were eminently wise and good. For many years his father had charge of all the public institutions of New York City, holding the office of General Superintendent. The first suggestion as to a House of Refuge for juvenile delinquents came from Mr. Burtis, and through his instrumentality Blackwell's Island was purchased, and the foundation laid for the present noble charities of New York City. His residence was at Bellevue on the East River, and here young Burtis passed the early years of his life. He formed habits of industry and sobriety, and under the training of the best teachers made great advances, especially in the classics. He spent one year in Columbia College, New York city, when the reputation of Eliphalet Nott, D.D., LL.D., drew him to Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., where he graduated in 1827. Though religiously inclined, he was not a professor of religion, and in obedience to his father's wishes he began the study of law and removed to Cherry Valley, N. Y. In Cherry Valley he was made superintendent of the Sabbath-school, and finding it necessary to open the school with prayer, he was brought to the decision to connect himself with the visible Church of Christ. His diary shows that he had been under the influence of Christian principle and feeling long before. He made a profession of religion and united with the Rutgers Street Presbyterian Church, New York, then under the charge of Thomas McAuley, D.D., in June, 1829. He soon decided that it was his duty to leave the law for the ministry, and his efforts, made in earnest and yet in a lovely filial spirit, to convince his father of the wisdom of the change, were not only successful, but resulted in the conversion of that revered parent, and brought the whole family most decidedly under the influence of the gos pel. He entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J., in 1830, and spent two years, and afterward spent one year in the seminary of Auburn, N. Y., where he completed his course of study and was licensed by Cayuga Presbytery in 1833. His first settlement was at Fort Plain, N. Y., in connection with the Reformed Dutch Church, and here he was ordained and installed by Montgomery Classis in 1835. He spent one year most happily in this relation, and was then persuaded to accept a call to a larger and more promising field, the Presbyterian church at Little Falls, N. Y., but here he was interrupted in the midst of his usefulness by a bronchial affection, and obliged to cease his labors when he had spent but a single year in his pastorate. He was forced to suspend regular labor as a preacher and pastor, and retiring to Cherry Valley, N. Y., to rest and recruit, he could not be idle, but undertook a voluntary agency of the American Tract Society, in which he labored for some time at his own cost. He was able to resume his chosen work after a few months, and accepted an invitation to supply the newly-formed church at Binghamton, N. Y., where he remained for one year, and then received a call to the large and flourishing church at Oxford, N. Y., where he spent a happy and useful and honored pastorate of seven years. He afterward supplied the church at Vernon, N. Y., for one year, and removed to Buffalo, N. Y., in 1847, after the death of the lamented Dr. Hopkins, and supplied the First Church for nine months. He was then pastor of the South Presbyterian Church on Washington street, Buffalo, for three years, and afterward of the Tabernacle Church on South Division street, in the same city, for four years, and then acted for two years as agent of the American and Foreign Christian Union. His time was subsequently devoted to the preparation of young men for college, and in the autumn of 1866 he was invited to the Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, to take charge of the classes in Greek, with a view to the Greek professorship. He made a most happy impression upon those among whom he went as an entire stranger-so approved himself as a proficient in that elegant language and literature, and gave such evidence of skill and enthusiasm in his new vocation, that he was just elected professor by the trustees, and was intending soon to move his family and devote his remaining years to this his chosen work. He was invited at the same time to supply a church in Oxford, and had entered upon that employment with unusual interest, and was preaching the gospel every Sabbath with great acceptance, when the summons came to cease from his earthly labors and enter upon his rest. He had been suffering for a long time with chronic disease of the stomach, which having assumed an active form, he soon sank under it, and died March 23, 1867, of inflammation of the bowels. His remains were taken to Buffalo, N. Y., where the funeral services were held in the Central Presbyterian Church in that city. In 1833 he married Miss Grace E. Phillips, a daughter of Judge Morse, of Cherry Valley, N. Y., who, with three daughters and three sons, survives him. Rev A. T. CHESTER, D.D., of Buffalo, N. Y., writes: "Dr. Burtis was a gentleman of the old school, exhibiting a gentleness and a grace sometimes in sharp contrast with the rougher elements of our Western life. In scholarship and learning he ever showed the effects of the early solid foundation that had been laid, built upon, as it had been, in his college life, in the careful study of two professions and in the constant culture of his whole career. In his religious character he was consistent, decided and earnest; as a preacher seeking the solid and true, rather than the showy and fanciful, and making it ever manifest that he was striving rather to honor his Master than himself." Rev. Mr. STODDARD, professor in the Miami University, writes: "He began to fail about 2 o'clock A. M., on the 23d inst.; I was called at 4 o'clock; he was conscious, and could answer questions correctly. I asked if he wished to make any communications in reference to his family. He generally replied in the affirmative, and once or twice said, 'I will soon.' I asked, 'Are your sons Christians?" He shook his head. 'Do you request them to meet you in heaven?' 'Oh yes!' This question was repeated in different forms and in reference to all his family, and his replies were always distinct and earnest, either by word or sign. 'Do you send your blessing to your family?' 'Yes,' he said, with a most affectionate look. Do you feel willing to commit them to God's care, and are you assured he will take care of them?' 'Yes.' Almost his last intelligible expression, when asked if he left any word for his wife, was 'Farewell.' It was uttered with an earnest and almost anxious look, but full of tenderness. "I asked," says Prof. S., "Are you ready to go?' 'I trust I am,' was the reply. Is Christ precious?' 'Oh yes!' Can you commit your soul to him? Yes.' About twenty minutes before he died he became insensible to external things, his breathing became quiet and his face assumed a very calm and peaceful expression, and he breathed out his life as gently as an infant sinking to rest. Rev. R. H. BISHOP, professor in the University, writes: "I met him often in public and private, and my esteem and reverence grew as I became more intimately acquainted with him. There was but one opinion in Oxford; all esteemed and loved him, he was so genial, so social, so kind, so polite, so thoughtful of the happiness of others, so entertaining and instructive in his conversation, and so good." R. L. STANTON, D.D., president of the University, preached a discourse, whence the following is taken: "Dr. Burtis was true to his country, though by nature of a conservative temperament; lenient, forbearing, yet when men rose up against the government in wicked rebellion he was found among his country's friends and against his country's foes; he was true to his Church: when her highest judicatory, the General Assembly, enacted that those who had openly engaged in rebellion should be held to answer for their sin in so doing, in order to admission to good standing in the Church, Dr. Burtis vindicated this action." The last ecclesiastical act of his life was in Buffalo City Presbytery a few weeks before his death. This was a resolution which was adopted, urging that the General Assembly should maintain its testimonies upon rebellion, slavery and the war, which had been enacted from the year 1861 to 1866 inclusive, against the efforts of some persons who were urging their repeal. CHAPIN, HERVEY-Was born in the State of New York in 1798; but little can be recorded of his early life or ministerial career. In 1843 he was a member of Wyoming Presbytery, and stated supply of the Lancaster Presbyterian church, New York; he subsequently became a member of cating in the town of Owatonna, which was just laid out; he was the first minister who located among that people. He organized the Presbyterian church, and amid many discouragements labored faithfully in his Master's cause. Though the church remained small in numbers, owing to frequent removals of the people, it was thoroughly grounded in the faith, being well organized and having a comfortable house of worship. Though advanced in years, in 1865 he removed to the State of Missouri, to him, had made an appointment to organize the Presbyterian church of cated at Tipton, Mo., and having gathered a number of Presbyterians around |