New Series, Vol. 'V, ; $3 00 By Mail. $3 50 By Carrier. 1 50cts Additional after three Months. : J gmmeat ' THURSDAY/ JUNE A, 186)3/ ' ' -' _ —■■ >0 >■ ■ -■ -..1- . REUNION IN THE ASSEMBLIteS, EDITORIAL dORRESP&HDENOB. i' ‘ • Our readers ral Assembly on Friday last at 10 o’clock, P.M., votejd tjO-'j and send do.yrn the Presbyteries* the Joint v .Cpmtpj | Mse , tf; Basis of 'Utiiod/ without modifidation.' The unanimity of actipn w^^^u^lift^ 1 ; four persons: ideclipiug! to by.the dissent Cpreviously recorded) from the article/of thirty-six persons, two or threp whom also dissented fromtheseeO’hd. These dissehtients generally Voted'itf'thb afllfina live upon the! plan as a .-vt;hple j .po; pne voted in the negative: Article tenth admits the right (but denies the i'mperhtii ve. of ' Presbyteries to examine ministers coming to them with ciehh papers'frOW siStfer Pres byteries, Whatevey migh,t be a^gned/upon, the abstract right* the recognition •'Ofsuch a right in ti plah of ire uttioA 'Md ads'usjiid ious look. l The.. unwisdom pf conceding what imperils the Standing' l giyenito’a min ister hy the organic law of the whole Pres byterian body, /and which virtually erects each Presbytery,dnto/an.independent body, i. e., reduces us td virtual Congregational ism, was deeply felt, ; and-'will hereafter be deeply fe|t by many whb y.et have voted and will probably vote, for the planvas -a whole. . . ■ The Assembly of the,' .branch has also voted to approve of the first or dpetri-: nal article, the most importkit ! dfte from their’point of view. They, do riet; v to have associated with it any special/iii} ] terpretatioi/as was done in our body; j The vote by which it was approved, 185 to 77, shows, probably, more diversity pf sentiment, than the) cither articles will' devefCp, but as ; < the minority includes some pf thd’ mpst able and influential members- d£f th«< body-andt j numbers more than oni ( P-ftlurth pf 'th : e"deie-' : gates, it is altogether uncertain what ijie fate of the measure in the Presbyteries will be. We think they wiU kill though it is very likely their action will show an: advance upon that of last year. Since the above was written, an event of the most remarkable character bearing on this subject haß occurred: A delegation from the body at Albany has Visited our body in this place, to. urge upon us such a modification in the terms the final adoption of tho basis by their Presby teries. The history of the case is-this : - The several terms of the proposed basis were adopted without change,;in the face of mueh opposition and many: attempts 1 at "amend ment, by, a majority finally ( of 185 to 69. The opposition ibeing formidable and being mainly directed to the doctrinal .article, it was suggested to the friends of JRemnibn at Albany, to inquire whether all the tory and liberal-toned phrases of that article might not be surrendered by our body, and thus nearly, if not absolutely, ensure its final passage by the necessary number of the Presbyteries in their own. The Assem bly resolved to make the attempt, and; tele graphed their action to our body in a dis patch, costing within a fraction of eighteen dollars, after which L,delegation, consisting of Dr. C. C. Beatty, Chairman, and Dr.. V.. D. Eeed and Messrs. Robert Carter and Henry Day, were commissioned to tack up! the telegram. Their appearance on the floor of our body at about five o’clock this afternoon, was a most interesting, even an extraordinary spectacle. When a hearing’ was given them, they expressed themselv’eSj as not the persons desiring the alteration,, as reluctant or almost ashamed to bring the request, and-pnly willing under the ur gency of the oase> "They had adopted the article h 3 it itodj^ ! : f ind were prepared to gp; into the campaign onthat issue, but the al teration would ecmke it easier and surer. It was avowed that.we had the case in our own hands; nay, even the idestinies of the two branches of the Presbyterian Church were declared to be under our control. It was protested that there was no desire or purpose to question our characters or to, abridge our liberties, any More than their own, by this change. It wash op ed,’ ho we that by it the suspicions o£ the cap|JO,us would-be allayed, and respect shown to the it was admitted, were bppdVed to these.dauses of the basis. : All five of the o. 23. Seminary Professors fin Albany bad voted against it. It was argued that the:Confes sion without CQpnnent,was betier, less liable, to be a bone of contention, better under-: stoodby thecommon people, and' mbp f likely to promote Presbyterian Union on a broker Shale! The objections • lalso • arising' from, of prpperty, 000 at'Pfilnbelbn alone, would be iand ibe.dahjgeWpf losing A of-tbe bid School ’body, in case iof Eennipn would be fehk>v l e [ d', by the change: :<n ■>> ! vO « , But’ithe^rgPPisbi'?/ W§es ■: bad”' Wo' in' l .fact > and spirit ot 1 th'e delegation. n < The 'profound,' oven i te£ritil, .earnpstnes^. l pf , ':|iie’?B^ ( beseeching tdjfo of'the plea theyimade, the throw4j^llheri^sel[ve6r n u'po'ii : thV'gen{upsity'' Of ( our : Assembly, the.pro.tesyatiaiijS ,pf tire confidencein our body, were; as "novel and!iipa,ven-wide,fr’pm. the .oltitpne of kiWO-; ganeej-so familiar up to recent times, aswas possible to conCeiyd. " When* they bat dpwri;" there was a pause. /Prof. H. B', Smith !broite) silenoe “by proposing ’vote liJeeonsidering, the ttiatterjiF 1 the rbpdirell’twbf thirds; in such caseswere present. Prof. Idorris moved following: > ‘ - 1 R^sqtiek a That, a, fi{ five bis '-ft ji pointed by,. the jdpde>ra'tbr, to', confer, with, the committee in atteptiance from the. is- Bembly in Besßto'n .'at)Atbany,:andLta r.ecom mend to this' Aes'embly such actipiHas they, deem Buithblo in the ease.” • ’ • ‘ . 1 In . ans wer to some searching,' quesiiphs, addressed to the delegation by.; cautions meiiibors on our floor, it appeared that the explanations! jappended, ,to. the J,oihf Com- which gave if a more: fav id-a.bie S'tihojir inj&i' ftcjt. adopted by the O. S. Assembly, as they were by Cii’rk ; n ah‘d that it beiim possible to procure ,a.< repeal pi. the Tenth, A'tti&le| i, in‘'¥eturn i the rdpeal -of the Relegation: Dr., .Nelson,, withr thQ. aame frankness whidb has 'thkdC fed yery iaii* 'Pfi jtfaok A^embly"fll|6r'e ,i wh6leb(Wffe ¥! wheney.pr hie' has spoken, put the case to the tion of the application of a minister hold-- ing 'the opinions of Albert Barnes to a spe cifically Old School Presbytery, and asked pointedly whether the same freedom would be accorded to New,School men in passing from one Presbytery to another, as he was sure would be given to the Old School. Ho received no answer. The roll was now called, and-the necessary two-thirds not be ing found present',* or voting in favor :qf re consideration, it appeared; to be o;ut of the power of the house to touch the project, of our Old School brethren. The resolution'of Prof. Morris above given.was adopted, and a Committee of Conference, in courtesy; was appointed, consisting of Eev. H. B. Srni.th, D. B. W. Patterson;D.D., and : Messrs: W. E. Dodge, and Edward Miller who,,in con-, junction with the 0. S. delegation, may propose some action on the subject not vio lative of order, They are in deliberation as we close this letter. June 1, 1868. P. S. Late in the evening the Committee reported the following, w,bleh was adopted: This Assembly has heard with profound satisfaction and reciprocates, with cordial- lellowship,. the state ment of the delegation 1 from the General Assembly at Albany about the-plan of Re-union. In' respect, however, to the proposition for a change in' article' first, as our Assembly is on the.eve 01-ad jotirnniOM, and greatly reduced in numbers: •«. Raolved, -That we regret that nb action can now be had upon this subjeet., as it canuot.raccording to our rules,„be reconsidered and amended at theipresent ses sion of the, Assembly; nor can the proposed [amendr ment be now ’sent dovyn to Our Presbyteries in such a form as that its adoption would any legal effect. This was supposed to close the case, but at about eleven o’clock, the following tele gram fro nk’ Albany was handed to the clerk: l\Rapb>ed, That this Assembly .hereby desire it distinct-; ly .tp bVunderstood that the first article of the, joint r.esolutiblis of the Committee, which is the , doctrinal' basis of union, adopted on Friday evening )ast by the Assembly, is npt to be interpreted as giving license t‘d ;prppaftate!doctrines, which have been, condemned by: either Assembly, nor to permit any Presbytery in the United States to'license or ordain to the work of the ministry any candidate who maintains any form of doc- 1 trine condemned by either Assembly. - - - ‘, - " jg®* The' sessions of the Southern Assem bly in Baltimore were taken up principally with routine business: The Declaration and Testimony Synod of Kentucky 'was repfe-’ sen ted by delega tea, who, invited the Assem bly to meet next year in ‘Louisville, but the Assembly resolved that it. cqjild’.OEl not meet outside the bounds of-the .Church it Pepresentsi , '‘ So as the mpu'ntain went' to' Mahomet,, then —— But whatbecomeaof the claim to the “ General Assembly of |the Presbyterian Ljhurch in theJGnit’ed, Sfatbs,” after this admission as to “ bounds ” ?, PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, JPXE 4, 1868. THE SDSTESstOji; «F! CEO. it BTCABT. 'Vfhen tjjie Presbyterian diet .in council.in-ibis ;oityt,seyep■ months),>go,. : the Qttbfetittn : of i “ i Who shall preside 1 atJOur'Pah- Cpdn cil ? > '’;’waS : ope 'of eapy de cision. i There:: were* eminent, Doctors ;of Divinityhnd Clergymen of weight present fiiomfive; denominations, but,ab,iif v ,by. one consent; iall-thdse were passed elder Smallest dii that floor, ifrom ithie-littie Benjamin Qf ( Mie tribes there assembled, was placed 'itPWb ! Chair, hisi tact sand . ability..,as- iki presiding 'a‘i , d f ;hea:fty eh£hto? : every good. iCause,; and : especially! fop,|p.e i good, cause'there represented, his magnetio power' as the a^B jail the lofty,hl A risihg bighiabove the' pettinesses wbvPbbad long divided' 1 USj ! ruiihing, 'perbafißj* into' *ih ; .(I-!? !<•’-: i :i’:l .OvA. ...wxir. i napaf le.nce j,ust. hip pislike-for the mere technicalities ofktheo lo gy ;■whs' likely tp' fdSter—kl’l pointed !huh soujb las bhe; proper mannfpr the’ place. ■ Never since the days Buchanan.presided,,infold; joveri the deliberations: iof the, General l As 'sbmbly of the he'wly Eefofhied Church of Scotland, had any Euling Ei.der placed in such af position'Of honor ! man hfQre “inerft' it, by his ppstJipqprd, or more thoroughly j ustify the -.choiceq byj his administratiCn'of the trust. " 11 V , There is a woe upon : those, ..of I( miaip., all men speak well, 1 but Mr.: Stuart lis>likelytd escape it. A prophet" has ho horioif 1 in his. own,country, and,the: qualities; whjoh. oom- ; | m!eWd , %' > iri&ti> th'thcflbvb bf !i thd‘Chui t cb ) ! 'are l nil villi -ii t i'e.voiio.vailt luiU kvih J»j! 1-Jj.n not just whal} to_ tqe. self-love ;of-a sect. iHehaSy toojias we have- Said, th'e fhisfprjtu'he *t6 to ’oh e of ttid 1 smallest ofi theVsects/ anSi. sieqtariapism 'is, usually—the Moravians are 11 an' Cxcehtion-r- 1 has been .given; more heartilv i toi natiopak ew^^to‘ , tKb ii |Pifidih^.Bycf the kingdom >, pf than tp 'greeting' churches omthe basis of and' close eomihanion. This has, of course, lost; him favor:with,the petty clique, who rule in this littlo Ghurch very much' as cliques l rule. in;airsuch Churches, and. it , was deter mined to make an exa&ple .of him. The thing was proposed last year, butMfStuart’s friends were too strong in, Synod; the sen-. sation which arose, even among the servatives, showed that the tinie was hard ly ripe: for it; and, worst of all,- Synod' was meeting in ifow York, and it' did not suit some very prominent members -that the thing should be done so near home. In Pittsburgh, however, it has been done.;’ A resolution, .suspending- George.H. Stuart’ from tlie Eldership and 'membership of tb’e- Reformed- Presbyterian Church, for singing? hymns and communing with Christians of other names, offered by Rev. A. G. Wylie; tho obscure pastor of an obscure congrega tion near'Schenectady "has been after seve-‘ ral days of embittered discussion of this and previous similar resolutions, . adopted by a vote of twenty-five to eighteen! Few peo ple have any notion of how much that is. exasperating, vexatious-and unfair, can be said by such people on such'lan occasion’— even of such a man. on trial for such, of fences. “ Covenant breaker, perjurer,” &c., are hurled with art unction that Bishop Pot ter might envy. It is: hardly .to be won dered at that the disagreeable excitement attendant on such a squabble has- broken down- Mr. S.’s health, and that he comes back to our city snfferihg; fro;m . his old. asthma, to the sorrow of personal friends more numerous on either side of. the Atlan tic, than the entire membership of, the Re formed Presbyterian ’Church thrice-told.; When his excuse for absenco from Synod: during, the last days of the case (trial it was not) were presented, the mover of the reso lutions finally adopted, did himself the honor to. insinuate, without rebuke from Sy nod or the Moderator, that the excuse was a sham, and he was hissed by the audieuce: for the slanderoua.insinuatioii with a fervency that did honor to Pittsburgh' lungs,and pluck.. 'When this Reverend,abu ser of better men than himself proposed that - the dhurch be cleared and an interiocuotry session be held, Dr. Howard, of the Old School Church, was heard to exclaim that if they expected that statement to, pass un hissed-they had come to the wrong place. A member of Synod —Roy. Thos*Johhstqn, of Talleeavey, Pa.;—gave utterance to the feelings 0f..a11, when he said that “if the people did mot ! hiss such a statement, the very stones bright to.” The plea of conscientious. s adherence to conviction and to principle will be entered by the authors and champions of this deci sion, but we trust that no one, outside (or even inside) of the ring of the Psalm-singing sects will be deceived by any such talk. Grafting, for the sake of argument, what we do not believe, viz: that Mr. Stuart has broken some law of his Church,-r-rthe bit terCst' in this instance, as some of ,tji,em vowned, have members in their churchesj who-have broken; with impunity; every law that Mr. Stuart has broken. Mr. Stuart’s friends; on Synod’s floor did not hesitate to say •'that they baddone all that h?,. charged w;itb, ah.(^ s tb?it if h.e was,con demned they.-should not be passed by. But only one man has been dealt with. and he yi&B selected ;for various reasons. (1), He is personally disliked by the clique of which' we, haye spoken, and for the.roasoiis wc have given* (2) His influence:-in the denomina tion‘itself is in too. liberalizing: a .direction. (3); ,As some members of Synod are,,said to bave privately -avowed, it is desirable -to d¥iye M|n ! ahd f his ffipnd's out of the Broad Street church, of this city,. toith.e building of which be and his friends and sympathiz ers gaye 87 per Cent, of all that,was. given. Should he:be goue, the chance: of: that church’s gping into any Presbyterian union wo.uld (if , was. supposed) be indefinitely diiriinished':; ! Tt : was' said 'by one : man at Pittsburgh: “ have lost enough proper-' ty byi ministers going over, to .the other Chtfreh es;’ and we kr'e riot’ gdin g‘ -to. 'let that property in. .Philadelphia go.” How conscience or prihbiple can'.be'pleaded ln,|^ddh.a,cas£i. : w^;dann64 ;I s^e.' : ; b The. authors of lhis ; new,decree deserve as may 1 be' accorded to {tjijein. , .^e, ypflj. , ojily specify, ’the • Philadel ,pbi»icvoterB..-,B», Crawford/ of Chambers; ibdrgb/^r^St'eelej’of 1 "18fh 'and Seifert _ ‘stsy •(Moderator,f)f Synod,) and Elders 'John Scott and JohffHolmes voted for the reso lution. Drs. Wylie, Sterrett and McAuley, of coarse, voted againßt it. Elder Alex. Kerr did not vote." Dr. McLeod, of New York, .by bis speeches, did bis best to secure conviction, bringingp’ersonal charges against Mr.'Stbaf t, and : hinting to the weak-kneed that the civil courts would sustain Synod, even iff condemning-a niember of Church unheard, untried, and without action from the : lower Courts. But when, as Clerk of Synod, he called the “ Yeas ” and' “ Mays,” he broke rule and passed by his, own name, although his vote was repeatedly demanded, until the roll wat fihiSlied,and then, to the and disgust of his followers, vo ted “ Mo.” , Such managementwill not pre vent those who understand “ the wheels within wkeels ” of the sect from holding him mainly responsible for the result, any more than will bis lame and contradictory “rea sons for his vote.” Had he voted at the proper plade, a dozen or more of ‘‘ theintel ligent eldership,” who do the bidding of their leaders, would have followed suit, and defeated the measure. As it was,,his cleri cal followers, by words and still more ex pressive -looks, clearly showed their disgust. ■To make matters of property still more secure, 'the suspension was followed up by setting aside the Presbytery of Philadelphia, to which Mr Stuart belongs, and suspending the session of the church from judicial func tions; while a Commission, composed of Seven of the pastor’s bitterest: opponents, is to sit in judgment ip, and do its pleasure with, the First church. We trust that, whatever the consequences', \tbe dOors of that building will never .op.en to them. What will be the results of this action in the civil courts, where it will finally be ad judicated, is the only point yet uncertain. The verdict of public opinion is assured, but we do not know enough of the legal techni calities to say whether the hopes of a righteous decision are well founded, Should they not be so, should; the law not be able to do justice, should that Christian pastor anil people be driven forth by an in tolerantfaction, should the building so of ten consecrated to Christian charity be given over to bigotry and exclusiveness,, should that edifice, memorable for so much of good, and over whose portals the eyes of many that have no ecclesiastical interestin it see written “My house shall be called a house or prayer/’ iall into the . hands of those who have no moral rightio itythen the GJ-enesee Evangelist, 3STo. 1150. ( Ministers $2-50 H. Miss. $2.00 1 Address:—l334 Chestnut Street. fearful ending of that text will be added, and over that entrance shall be written, in characters that no hand of man and no lapse of time can efface—“ But ye have made it A DEN OF THIEVES.” This high-handed act of discipline is most probably “ the beginning of the end ” of the Reformed Presbyterian Church (N. S.) The bulk : of two Presbyteries will go, with or without their property, into the Mational Presbyterian Church, while the stricter men in the farther WeBt,iwill find a more con genial home with the' tPnited Presbyterians. A handful will, probably, hold out in the East, going through-the motions of Church government, and dying by inches., It was evident to most who attended tbe closing sessions, that there was littlff spirit left in the body. The delegates to corresponding bodies refused to serve, as* indeed, it would have been a farce to have appeared off the'floor Of.any but the TJ. PjAssefolflyi,fitter such,a direct and unqualified insult to the great mass of Evangelical Christendom. How lit tle will Christendom:lose by the extinction, of such a Church 1 We rejoice to learn that the delegates, from our ow-n -and the Old School Assembly promply withdrew from the Synod updn .the perpetration of thqse outrages, and thus expressed the sentiment of the Christian community to their authors. We sincerely hope that all public: recognition will he withdrawn from men who have so disgraced the Christian and Presbyterian name, and that, the fragments of bitter sectarianism which’remain, may be lett to complete their own, disintegration and suicide in obscurity. J®* The installation of 'Rev. Herrick Johnson, D.D., as pastor of the First Church, by the Fourth Presbytery of Philadelphia, will take place this evening. . Sermon by Rev. Dr. Humphrey. Charge to pastor by Rev. A. BarneS' Seryides commenoe at 8 Q’iCldok.' : <®?'The death of Matthew M©Vkirk, Esq., which took place on Sunday evening, May 31, (being his seventy-fourth birth-day,) will excite unmingled sorrow in the hearts of true Christians of every name. The de ceased was born in Pittsgrove, M. J., in 1794, but came to Philadelphia in 1810. In 1839*116 retired from business and became President .of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, of which he was the projector. He was President of more than one of our benevolent institutions, an elder in tbe Central Church (O. S.) of this city, and the oldest 'trustee, of Princeton College. His real estate in this city was very extensive and valuable.- His only child is Rev. Matthew Mewkirk, Jr., of the other branch. We regret that we have neither had time to prepare, nor space in tho present number to insert, a worthy report of the Centenary.services in Old Pine St. church. We can only say that the whole affair was a grand success—the church was most beau tiful, the programme excellent, the speeches worthy of .the occasion, and the entertain ment in every way excellent. We hope to have a full report in our next, as we are afraid, if We do not do some justice in the matter, that the Pine Street-folks will not send ms an invitation to'their next Centenary. A very full report of the recent dedica tion at York, Pa., furnished by our Roches ter correspondent, is in type, but also un avoidably postponed. ■ The Third Presbytery of Philadel phia will,meet by adjournment, in the Tjo gan Square Church, on the hth inst., (next Tuesday,) at 4 o’clock, P. M-, for the exa mination of Mr. Thomas J. Brown, prepara tory to his ordination as pastor of said Church. The ordination services are ap pointed for the evening of that day, the programme as follows: Dr. March to pre side and offer the ordaining, prayer; Dr. Herrick Johnson to preach the. sermon; Rev. W. E. Moore to deliver the charge to the pastor, and Dr. Humphrey that to the congregation. . The Methodist General Conference has adopted a-plan for jth'e reception of Lay delegates—to be elected by the meetings of Lay stewards—into the Annual and Gener al- Conferences.
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