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New Series, Vol. VI, No. i j din'Aweir 15j uly 69
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3iltitiratt Irtst(gtfrialt,
THURSDAY, APRIL I, 1869.
THE RE-UNION MOVEMENT,
The policy of our branch of the church on re
union has been straightforward; consistent, and
substantially unanimous. The Joint Committee's
last plan, as adopted by both Assemblies last
May, was rapidly receiving the approval of our
Presbyteries, and would have been unanimously
adopted, if it had not early appeared that the
Presbyteries of the other branch would defeat
it by a very heavy vote. The Presbyteries whose
delegates at Harrisburg voted with the minoritY,
being content with the explanations of the As
sembly, contributed their votes now to 'swell the
harmonious expression of sentiment of our body.
The editors of all our papers were unanimously
upon the same side. We believe if a poll of the
entire ministry, office-bearers and members of our
church had been taken, there would scarcely have
been a dissenting voice, from deem to ocean.
Very different has been, the case with the bre
thren of the other branch. In the very adoption
of the Basis at Albany they dispensed with the
explanation of the Joint Committee accompany
ing it, and so left themselves without any au
thoritative interpretation of its terms. Voting
to approve the Joint Committee's Basis by a
large majority, they, in the same breath, voted
unanimously that they would prefer something
different; and all will remember the visit of
their delegation to Harrisburg to persuade our
Assembly to a similar, expression of opinion.
We will not follow the history of the discus
sions and transactions, the circulars and confer
ences; and the variety of plans, with which the
ministry, the press, and the subordinate judica
tories of the other body have occupied them
selves. After nearly one-half of our Presbyte
ries had voted to approve the Basis, it became
clear that the plan had utterly failed in the other
branch, and that some other course must betaken
to secure the end propoed. Whereupon, a num
ber of our Presbyteries, not easily disconcerted,
voted their readiness so to amend the Basis as
to meet the wished of the dissentients on the
other side. As many es a diiteo364ietieltllla
•
course, before the recent meeting er,.o;ll:.pertion
of the Re-union Committee, At that
.meeting,
it was agreed to recommend' to the Presbyteries,
of both branches to unite on.the 'old Basis, ainen
ded by omitting the " Smith" and " Gurley"
clauses of the First article, and the Tenth arti
cle entire. But so far was their. action from
giving satisfaction to our Old School brethren,
that the ink could scarcely have ' dried on the
public announcement of the fact, when a leading
Presbytery of the other branch came furward,
with still further apd more sweeping •amend
ments, which were at'once taken up .and urged
with zeal by the leading journal of the body. A
few weeks after, we heard again of a conference
in Pittsburg, which issued a " fraternal address,"
approaching very nearly the spirit of that of our
committee, and recommending similar action upon
the two articles named, but suggesting further
action and recommendations from the Presbyteries
to the Assemblies, not contemplated by our Com
mittee. So that harmony could not be very con
fidently expected as the result of these new de-
liberations in Pittsburg. Besides, the meeting
was informal, the public does not know who was
there, hut it knows that not a single Professor of
Allegheny Seminary took part in the proceedings.
The action of the Pastors' Association of this
city, taken last week, proceeded upon the suppo
sition that practically, the proposal of our Re:
union Committee had failed; that no , sign of a
response on the part of the 0. S. Presbyteries
appeared, and that, therefore, a proper degree of
self respect and of respect for our own Commit
tee and our General Assembly called for a with
drawal to our former position. Perhaps the As
soclation was somewhat hasty in its decision, as
almost' no Presbytery of the other branch has
been beard from on the subject. Let but a rea
sonablorprobability appear that a sufficient num
ber of those Presbyteries will endorse the amend
meets of our Committee, and nearly, if not quite
all of the pastors and others belonging to the
Association, will gladly meet them there. This
is the position taken by ourselves, and we stand
to it.
There are those we believe, in both branches,
who still expect to see the two bodies united by
the action of the coming General Assembly. It
is hoped by such, that'the coming six weeks will
be sufficient to bring abont:thn necessary chtpges,
of Presbyterial action, and to put three-fourths
of the Presbyteries in both the bodies upon a
common platform, with authorisation, to the Gen
eral Asscmbly to consummate the' unintivaccor
dingly. Much will have to be 40 t ii , l 'lunch
undone in these brief six weeks. No less than
four plans, not counting that of the Joint Com
mittee adopted by the two Assemblies last May,
will be before the Presbyteries ; three of them
without a show of authority, and one recommen
ded by the Re union Committee of our body.
They are as follows :
1. Tbe • proposal of the Synod of Wheeling,
(0. S.) to omit the Smith and Gurley clauses 113
the First Article of the Joint Committee's - Ba_.
sis, leaving all the rest as adopted by the Assem-'
blies.
2. The proposal of the Central Presbytery, of
Philadelphia (0. S.) to set aside the 'Basis al:
together.and unite on the standards alohe.
3. The proposal of our Re=union 'Committee
to omit the, Smith and Gurley clauses of the
First article and the Tenth article entire.-
4. The proposal of the Pittsburg Conference
which corresponds to that of our Committee, but
adds a recommendation that the Presbyteries au
thorize the Assemblies 'to make - any other altera
tions in the Basis Which three<fouiths of both: of
them may agree upon,,and to unite without trans
mitting such changes in overture to the Presby
ries.
r'rOposals 3 and 4 are alike, in that; in both,
there is a candid recognition of the comprehen
sive ileetrinal position Which has hitherto been
restrietedto one branch of the church. °Had
the Pittsburg brethren omitted the recommenda
tion in regard to further changes, besides those
suggested by our Committee, theie plan would
have been coincident with our own. It is matter
of regret that there should be any difference.
Out of , these four plans, it is plain that one
and'one' nly must be chosen and approved by .
three-fourths of the Presbyteries on each side,
before the Assemblies have the semblance of a'
constitutional right to consummate the Re-unidn
—they certainly will-`not follow• the' precedent
set in the disunion, of constituting themselves a
legislative body, and attempt to •undo one coup
d'eglise, one revolttion, by another.- We say, One
of these four plans must be adopted by three
fourths of the Presbyteries on each side; or Re
union fails thie Spring. •
And , we'say farther, that in our judgment, the
recent recommendation of our Re:union Com
mittee is•the ultim,atum beyond which 'it will be
impossible to bring any. such number as 'three='
'fourths 'of' ow Presbyteries Those . zrecottnenl
clations,l-with Nthe , lelear minderstanding , itated
by the leonunittivthat our ch arch adheres toi its
liberal-orthodox' policy, should be aocepted by
the requisite numbei of the Presbytericd of the
other branch,' if they desire Te:nriloti Wiiih•our
body. These Offers of the boiernittee we'do% riot
now intend to recommend. We" only -think 'it
proper that the other branch should bet fully ad
vised as to the exact point where they , will find
us. They as albedy have 'refused to 'accept 'the
plan adopted by both Assemblies, and which -has
been ratified , 'unanimously- brour , Presbyteries:
Instead of holding stubbornly to our edvantitge-'
ous position, which was also that of their , own
Assembly, we, through our committee,' have •ad
vanced amicably towards their new' position.
Will they meet' us or not Will they not,
through their leading journals, give us some in
timation, more decided and general than' that of
the recent, very informal, act of the Pittsburg
Conference, that such is their purpose ? • If not,
we fear others- of our . Presbyteries will follow
the example of that of lowa City, and the - ad
vice of the Philadelphia. Pastors' Association,
and our body will be found concentrated upon
the pure alld simple Basis of the Commit-
tee, while of our brethren of the other branch it
will, be said, every one hath a doctrine, hath a
tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation
on the subject of Re-union, ,
Let the press of the other branch say as much
es they ple.aan of other plans, but let themmake it
a matter of ,co,nscience,, at least., to inform „their •
readers upon what one of all the five ; proposed
lines of action they will meet our Presbyteries,
so that those really desirng ;mien with us may
not go blindly in
,every other direction And
then let God, and the Christian worldijudoo as
to the result. .
The Presbyterian of last week says :
It is the opinion •of some, that 'the union,cif
the ,Old and'. New School. Presbyterian churches
is to be the beginning of the strife and debate....
We do not share these fears, inasmuch as we do
not accept many of the, statements ou which they
rest.
But it is on statements made by the Presbyte
rian itself, that some of these " fears" rest. Are
we to understand that it repudiates for example,
that quoted in our columns'last week, as , follows:
" We are but giving fair warning to our breth
mu of the•other Branch, when we say that there
are many jn.our Church, who will immediately
demand that the right of examination shall be
acknowledged as an inherent right of the Pres
bytery and will carry this claim of right up
through all 'the Courts of the Church until it is•
recognized by tthe highest tribunal and •made:
thus. the law of the Church"
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1869.
WHERE, WHAT NOW AND WHITHERI
Propositions and counter propositions concern
ing Reunion are the order of the day. Almost
every week heralds some new phase of the move
ment. We are in a maze of conflicting sug
gestions. Amidst the general confusion there
are some things that may be, and that ought to
be, understood. - .
It ought to be understood that the Old School
Church trst'afficially propoied reunion, and ap
pointed a Committee to confer with 'a
similar
Committee . from our own branch in regard to
the:desirableness and practicability ofthe move
ment.
It ought to be understood that this Joint
Committee, iepr t esenting equally the two 6rcinehes
of the Chizreh; franied'and adopted and reported
for consideration and approval both:the basis . of
'67 and the basis of t6B:
It ought to be underitood ihat theie: two bases
thus unanimously adopied in Joint Committee,
and submitted for Presbyterial actiOn,'hiave been"
accepted in each ciiie - bj the N." S. Presbyteries,
and rejected-in ,each case by the'o. S: Pxesby-
aeries.
ought to .I),e understood that the proposition
to unite upon ," the basis, of the Standards pure
and, simp,le,", the spigostion, of Old School men
alone, made unofficially, without conference with
our branch, and after . a.plan • of• union had been
regularly submitted = for action by : their own
Assembly. ,
It ought to ,bp understood ; that while the Old
School Presbyterieshave overwhelmingly rejected
their own Committee's basis, they have acted up
on this unofficial 'and one.sided suggestion,. and
have voted for the first article withflic,the„§mith
and , ; Gurley amendments—or for t'te Standards
pure and,simple, as to doctrine. •
It ought to be understood: that_ this action of
the Old. School Presbyteries eithersittnwyzrily le r
feated rennion, or necessitated some new , recom
mendation to our own Presbyteries, and shah ad-.
ditional action
,by theM,aB should lead to har-
It peght to be understood -that the Committee
on Reunion . in connection witil our branch of the
Church, h!tive met thislCrllkTl In t#e spirit c't;
134,041991WPWIPalrersi*,-.04411.4c4bus shown.,
fpy i tileLq.ANrd time, a,wkllingnessalo, shape a basis )
04; shall,, ~passible,; , commend itself do the
vviews of ,°F - 91d B ehgPlitTPtke n • ' The .
nape, i hsye,,unanirnously, recommendedto t our
.Preellteries,that a.regular i pectingarcced
ing
,the, next , General,Assetn . bly they• express
their assent. ; to, the :arneOplent, adopted by . the
other ,branek and also
~!o, the .omissim of the
Tenth ,Article., And,the cpmpittee " cannot but
trust that our Old School brethren will concede
this aaditional pmission,,sinceit is but the. ap
plicatiOniof the same IpFieeijile_to the polity, of
the Church, wjaieb they-have applied to its. doc
trine." We earnestly hope, and we confidently.
:belieye, that three-fourths of the New ,School
Presbyteries will carry, put thisrecommendation
'of our Committee, arid. give, 'Abeir assent totbe
two, amendments , at the re;ular, sprinc , meetings..
Of, course we, regret last, week's action of the
Philadelphia ..Pastoral Association, and should
have sought its modification, or indefinite post
ponement had we been present.
This is the" Whence " and the. ; ", What Now."
What the "Whither" shall be, will depend very
much "upon the manner of response given to the
address and suggestio ‘ ns ,of our Reunion Com.
mittee by the Presbyteries of the other branch at
their spring meetings.
It ought to be understood, bolever--let it be
kindly but distinctly and deoisiveV,asid— it ought
to be,understoocl tha4 9}o right of,reaf, °nal* liberty
in,docSal exposition,•such .as is conceded by the
Gurley clause, ; is relinquished !or ,denied by our
Presbyteries in. agreeing to the amendment to the
Tenth , Article. , This, our Committee clearly
state. This we belieye to be the- unalterable
sentiment of. the great body of, our Church. In
deed, we are fully satisfied that not a Presbytery
in our whole connection would favor that amend
men,tt if it wa's supposed that reunion on the
basis thus.amended, involved the relinquishme n t
or denial of such right and liberty. " Truth,"
in The Piesbyterian •saya our [N. S.] proposi.,
tion, "is to unite on the baiis , of the Standards
pure and pimple', plus the whole liberty of inter
pretation guaranteed by theCrurley amendment."
That is jtist our proposition exactly, if there is
any ".plus "-about it., We think,, however, the
" plus " . is involved in
,: atty, reasonable and de-
fensible acceptance of the. Standards as a basis of
doctrine.
It is precisely at this point.that we should un
derstand each other. It is due to. Christian
courtesy and candor. The amendment to the
First Artiele was proposed by, the Old School
Assembly. only as a matter of ": _ preference," and
because "the basis would. be more , simple and
more expressive of mutual confidence." For
this reason we are willing to assent to it. But
" H" in The Presbyterian says the 0. S. Presby
teries " votedlk against the Smith and Gurley
..t
amendmente because they were utterly unwilling
to admit ,any such understanding." Who is
" H 7" And does, he fairly represent the bodies
for whom he speaks ? And did the 0. S. la'sem
bly mean one thing by their proposition and the
O: S. Presbyteries an altogether different thing
by their vote?
Again : The Presbyterian manifestly takes ex
ception to ,
the clause concerning liberty in the
address of our Committee, and says, "This is re
introducing the Gurley amendment, which had
just been handsomely bowed out," or a This is
practically saying that they omit what they do
not omit,that they surrender what they mean
co - retain." Well, does The Presbyterian mean to
deny the liberty referred to ? What is that lib
erty ? A lihertyof interpretation "which, does
not impair 'the integrity' of the Reformed or Cat
vin istic system." Is The Presbyter' ian, are our
0 S. brethren, opposed to that ? They are cer
tainly iecord in opposition to the irlissima
veqta theory of interpretation. Says Muse
grtiVe,'"l . doubt whether a dozen men in our
branch of the Church can be found who hold
it." Says 'The Presbyterian, "We emphatically
denylhe purpose to hold them to the ipsissima
verba theory.""' Tell us then, what the liberty is,
and what ground it covers, which is untrammeled
by the fpsis.sima" verba theory; and yet which lies
between* that and the liberty a which does not im
pair the integrity of the Reformed or Calmnistic
' system." This last is the liberty of the Gurley
clause, a nd we understand The Presbyte r i an as
objecting to it. It denies the purpose to hold us
to the' ipsis,sima verba theory. We ask in all
kindness and solely for the purpose of mutual
understanding, to what liberty of interpretation
are we invited in the proposed reunion ?
GREW CHURCHES OF THE WORLD.
The great churches of the world' are, first, the
Roman Catholici numbering 195,434,000 ; and
the Russian Greek, numbering about 40,000,000;
the' remaiiiing portions of the Greek - and Eaateri
churches;' probably' 40,000;000 more, toeing too
mueh i bPoieti up' into sects and riva national
churches to be here enumerated.
There ate about twenty million Lutherans in
Europe,-but they are divided into• as many na
tional churches as there are petty German prin
cipalities or Scandinavian countries. From this
vast poPulation the Lutheran Church in Atherica
, .
is' receiving great .accessions just now, by immi
gratiOn, their increase last year having been
eighteen' 'thousand. The United Evangelical
Church of Prossia, composed of the''Refiiiined
and'Lutheran ChurChei united by the State, has
a pOpulation of over eleven and a half millions
. .
of nominal adherents, besides two and a half
millioni in other German territories.
The Church of England, zilihough nominally
comprising the entire population, and' supported
by tithes drawn from the whole, now holds but a
divided empire over the twenty millions of the
population. None of the dissenting. denomina
dons can compare with her, however, in 'num
berS, wealth, and influence. Her church-accom
modations are 5,b1.7,91.5, and her estimated
church-attendants are 3,773,475, while the ac
conimodations.of all the others combined amount
to 4,894,64:8, and their estimated aggregate at
tendants to 3,487,556. Her membership is pro
bably twelve to fifteen million, and her revenue
from twenty-five to thirty millions of dollars in
gold.
The Presbyterian Church stands 'among the
great churches of the world, both , in the number
an d character of the populations nominally em
beaci'ng it.
~ T here are three 'and a half millions
in Great Britain, principally in . Scotland'
.and
Ircland, taro millions in Holland, one and a half
million, in France, one and a half million in Pro
testant'Switzerland, and two millions in Austria
and Russia. In Canada, Australia, and the
Dutch Colonies, there are possibly half a million
more, and in this country fairly three millions of
'the population may be reckoned to the different
Presbyterian branches ; making a Presbyterian
pOpulation in The world of fonrteen
nearly one seventh of the entire Protestant po
pulation. If to these are added the fourteen
_millions of the United Evangelical Church of
Prussia and the German States, which is Presby
terian 'in form;.we should have a total of twenty
eight millions—the greatest numerical following
of any of the Protestant forms of polity and be
lief. In the Established Church of Prussia, it
is second to the Anglican; among organized de
nominations.
A Budhist reformer,-has been • crucified,
Burmah, by his enraged co-religionists.
Genesee Evangelist, No. 1193.
Home & Foreign Miss. $2.00.
Address :-1334 Chestnut Street
—A Wisconsin legislative committee has re
ported unanimously in favor of the re-enactment
of the death penalty for murder.
—Only six of the seventy-two columns of last
week's Independent can be called distinctively re
ligious, these six being mainly items of intelli
genCe. Mrs. Lydia M. Child and Wm. Lloyd
Garrison are the leading contributors, between
whom Rev. Ray Palmer's short article is sand
wiched. There is no remote allusion to aby reli
gious topic in any one of the six editorials.
—The N. W. Presbyterian declares our Chi
cago correspondent's item about that paper being
for sale, an " unauthorized statement!' This is
not the first " unauthorized statemeat" in regard
to the sale of newspapers which has got abroad,
as the columns of the N. W. Presbyterian itself
will bear witness.
—The Pastors' Association, N. S., of this
city, have appointed "Church Temperance Meet
ings" as the next topic for discussion, to be open.
ed by. Rev. Dr. Shepherd. Dr. S.'s church, on
Buttonwood St., has kept up such a meeting
every week for a year, with remarkable success,
and it is hoped that as the result of the discus
sion, other churches will be induced to make a
Temperance meeting part of their regular weekly
or monthly services. •
—The mayor and common council of the De
mocratic city of Detroit attended the funeral of
the. Romanist Bishop Lc Fevreoand ordered the
city offices closed in honor of the occasion. Did
they do as much last summer on the occasion of
the death of the eminently worthy and right re
verend Presbyterian Bishop Duffield ?—bidepen
dent.
What they did at the funeral of the good
Presbyterian bishop we have fOrgotten; but on
the occasion of his golden wedding, they passed
congratulatory resolutions and were present in a
body at theAreception in the evening.
—Among the most marked indications of the
advance of public sentiment, in Italy beyond the
dark and unscriptural positions of the dominant
church, is the proposal of a young priest of Sa
lerno to enter the marriage relation, and the man
ner in which the proposal was received
,by the
people. laying priest, without layin aside his hier
archical character", had entered upon an engage
ment with a young lady; but heifather interfered
and procured an order from the loCal magistrates,
forbidding any civil officer from celebrating the
marriage, on the ground that the man was in
priests' orders. An appeal was taken to the Nea
politan Court, February 17th, where it excited
the most intense interest. The government, it
seems, through the Attorney general, took the
side of the young priest, and the correspondent
of the London Times sayi thtit the sPee'cli of this
officer.was "full of eloquente, and diitinguished
by the most liberal ipirit. The acclamations
were so frequent and fervid that it was difficult
to follow the thread of the speebh. At the end
hats were lifted, vivas were shouted, and a uni
versal clapping of hands ensued such as I have
seen only in the, enthusiastic audience of a thea
tre. Long and. loud it continued; the demon
stration was beyond the power of the priests to
stop it, and numbers came up to congratulate and
thank the Attorney-General." The Court has
since declared that the opposition to the priest's
marriage is inadmissible, and directs that the
ceremony shall be prciceeded with according to
law.
In. Mexico, we learn from the correspondence
of the :Tribune of last month, an 'ex-prieit has
been married by the civil magistrates to an ex
nun of Puebla.
—The translators of the Received Version, in
1 Cor. 14, 16 have omitted before " Amen " the
definite article, which it has in the original. The
passage reads : "How shall he that occupieth the
room of the unlearned, say ' Amen' at thy giv
ing
of thanks," instead of, How shall he say
"the Amen ;" not an unimportant, difference.
The article conveys the idea of a prevalent ens
, •
"tom, an established and recognized part of the
worship of the primitive church. In Stanley's
note on the verse, quoted by Dr. Poor, in his re
vision of Lange, we are told that in the early
Christian liturgies it was regarded as a marked
point in the service ; it is spoken of as on a level
with the thanksgiving, " the President having
given thanks and the whole people having shouted
their approbation. In, latter times, the Amen
was only repeated once by the congregation, and
always after the. great thanksgiving, and with a
shout like a. peal of thunder." Very tame does
our participation in public worship appear in con
trast with this thrilling outburst of manly devo
tion; very timorous the suppressed and decorous
murmurs of an Episcopal congregation. Let us
have "the Amen ":'back again, but let us have
it is the •stitring style of 'the prinaitiire.chiiidh.
CURRENT TOPICS.